Please bear in mind that installing dark tints can also affect other road users. A 2004 report by Baldock and associates from the Centre of Automotive Safety Research, Australia argued against the use of such tints because dark tints placed even on the side windows can make it harder for a driver to see other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians at night, particularly when the driver is turning, dealing with the glare of headlights, or stopping at intersections.
Dark tints also prevent other road users to see into a car to assess the intentions of the driver or to see that if the driver has seen them.
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View of a pedestrian at night. No window tint is installed. Compare this view with that below (photo from Baldock et al., 2004).
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View of the pedestrian is greatly obscured when 35% VLT (allowing only 35% visible light through) window tint is installed. Turning the car right would risk hitting this pedestrian (photo from Baldock et al., 2004).
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The side windows of a neigbouring car are sometimes needed to enable us to see through them to notice other road users, or in this case, a cyclist. No window tints are installed here. Compare this with below when dark window tints are installed (photo from Baldock et al., 2004).
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The danger of tints with high VL rejection. The side windows of a neigbouring car are installed with 35% VLT (i.e., enabling only 35% visible light through). In this case, the incoming cyclist is greatly obscured by the dark tints. Since the light is passing through two side windows, the light transmission level is actually 35% x 35% or only 12.25% (photo from Baldock et al., 2004).
Source:
Baldock, M.J.R., McLean, A.J. and Kloeden, C.N. 2004. Front side window tinting visual light transmittance requirements. CASR Report Series No. CASR002. Centre for Automotive Safety Research, The University of Adelaide, Australia.
