Relating to motor vehicles, including registration plates and the minimum standard of transparency for window tint, providing fees, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable

The bill requires the fees collected by the DOT for the plates to be paid monthly to the treasurer of state and deposited in the road use tax fund. The treasurer of state must then credit monthly from the statutory allocations fund to each county’s county mental health and disabilities services fund the amount of the special blackout fees collected in the previous month for the blackout plates issued to vehicles registered in that county. Upon receipt of the special registration plates, the applicant must surrender the current registration plates to the county treasurer. The county treasurer must validate the special registration plates in the same manner as regular registration plates are validated. The annual special blackout fee for letter-number designated plates is $10, which is in addition to the regular annual registration fee. The annual fee for personalized blackout plates is $5, which is in addition to the annual special blackout fee and the regular annual registration fee. The bill requires the annual special blackout fee to be credited in the same way as the special blackout fee. The bill prohibits the DOT from conditioning the issuance of blackout plates on the receipt of any number of orders for blackout plates. DISPLAY OF PLATES. The bill prohibits the owner of a vehicle from placing any frame around or over the registration plate which does not permit full view of the registration plate number, state name, and county name, if applicable, printed on the registration plate, and any validation sticker or other registration sticker required to be displayed on the plate. A violation of this provision of the bill is punishable by a scheduled fine of $20. WINDOW TINT. Under current law, a person is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which is excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult for a person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor vehicle through the windshield, window, or sidewing.7), “excessively dark or reflective” means the windshield, side window, or sidewing does not meet a minimum standard of transparency of percent light transmittance. The bill prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which does not meet a minimum standard of transparency of percent light transmittance. The bill also strikes the provision requiring the DOT to adopt rules establishing a minimum measurable standard of transparency. A violation of this provision of the bill is punishable by a scheduled fine of $50. The bill also provides that if a peace officer stops a motor vehicle equipped with a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver which has a transparency of percent light transmittance or less, the driver must lower the side window on the side of the officer’s approach of the vehicle to the side window’s lowest possible position prior to the completion of the officer’s approach of the vehicle, and must keep the side window in the lowest possible position for the duration of the stop unless otherwise instructed by the officer. A violation of this provision of the bill is punishable by a scheduled fine of $20. However, if the violation is a person’s first violation, and the person has not previously been issued a warning memorandum for a similar violation, the officer is required to issue a warning memorandum to the driver in lieu of a citation.