Tinted windows offer protection

THE EDITOR: It was all well and good, laudable, that the licensing authorities have decided to crack down on traffic offenders. In one breath, though, there is the need to advise that in their exuberance they do not overkill; they law abiding citizens do not have to pay for the criminals who still elude them; that their approach is not hostile and adversarial and confrontational, but that in all that they do, it must still be in the spirit of “to protect and serve.” Thus, for a simple car defect, a blown bulb, for instance, a driver should not be issued a ticket, then and there, but, as in the US, be given, say, 48 hours to have it repaired, then to report back to them that it had been duly attended to. And Mr Commissioner, where is the evidence that tinted car windows are responsible for the high crime rate, the kidnapping and murders and robberies etc? There really isn’t any link between tinted car windows and crime.

There is however, statistical evidence that proves that exposure to the sun can lead to skin cancer, premature aging of the skin etc. Ninety-nine percent of the people who tint their windows do it for protection from the sun, to get maximum benefit from their ACs, not for criminal purposes. When, however, the licensing officer pulls you up in the middle of nowhere and orders you to rip off your tint right then and there, he is wasting your time and his time giving the real criminal enough time to do his thing and get away. America experienced one of the worst crime rates in history during the era of the Wild West. America did not ban the horses or the handkerchiefs that the bandits used to effect their crimes, because they realised that there were other factors responsible, that one lawman to a county or a state naturally encouraged a breakdown of law and order, not the horse, not the kerchief or as in this case, not the tint. In short, Mr Traffic Commissioner, try not to mistake the tree for the forest. Tinted windows protect health, they do not harbour or encourage criminals.

SUSAN SIDDHARTHA
San Fernando