Driving a car with darkened windows? Watch out you don't get fined!

The police in Słupsk are the first police force to start prosecuting drivers whose car windows are too opaque. According to regulations, the windscreen must have a light permeability ratio of at least 75%, while the front side windows at least 70%. Most cars meet these standards, but some drivers use extra tinting on their windows, with one driver caught in Słupsk with a permeability ratio of just 38%. "Windows which are too heavily tinted allow drivers to break the law, such as drive without their seatbelts or talk on their mobile phones. But what is even more important for me, is the safety of my men - they come up to a car like that and somebody can have a gun pointed at them," says Słupsk police chief Waldemar Fuchs. Until now, the main problem with enforcement of the regulation was obtaining permeability meters. The Słupsk police have overcome this by borrowing several units from a Marki-based producer for a month, after which they will likely buy them for zł.2,600. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 2) T.J.