EXTERNAL VIEWING OF VEHICLE CONTENTS UNDER VARYING WINDOW TINTING AND ILLUMINATION CONDITIONS. FINAL REPORT

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which motor vehicle window tint films impede a police officer's ability to see clearly into a stopped vehicle. Three hundred and twenty subjects were asked to view the contents and occupants of one of four experimental cars. One car had no aftermarket tint film and three had varying degrees of tinted windows. Although similar experiments have been conducted in the past, all yielded equivocal results because of methodological flaws. This experiment attempted to correct some of those problems and to simulate standard procedures used in traffic stops by the Virginia State Police. In general, this study found that the ability of subjects to detect occupants and objects in vehicles was substantially diminished as the level of window tinting increased. However, the detrimental effects of window tinting on viewing occupants and objects within a vehicle at night were substantially reduced when headlights and a spotlight were shone at the stopped vehicle, as would be the case in a traffic stop.

• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/19380
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This project was conducted under the financial sponsorship of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
• Corporate Authors:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903

  Virginia Department of Transportation

  1401 East Broad Street
  Richmond, VA  United States  23219

  University of Virginia, Charlottesville

  Center for Transportation Studies, P.O. Box 400742
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22904-4742
• Authors:
  • Proffitt, D R
  • Hoseph, J
  • Bhalla, M
  • Durgin, F
  • Bertamini, M
  • Lynn, C W
  • Jernigan, J D
• Publication Date: 1995-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 24 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Days; Night; Police; Safety; Stopping; Traffic law enforcement
• Uncontrolled Terms: Stopped vehicles
• Old TRIS Terms: Police officer safety; Tinting; Vehicle contents; Viewing condition; Windows
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00674236
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: VTRC 95-R3, Proj. No. 9716-040-940
• Files: NTL, TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Feb 7 1995 12:00AM