The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to propose new guidelines next month on vehicle window tint before amending relevant laws next year.
The announcement today comes after civil groups, including the Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, and lawmakers have criticized current guidelines for not having an enforcement mechanism.
Window tints present a safety hazard, as they have the potential to make pedestrians difficult to see from the inside of a vehicle, especially at night.
Photo: Taipei Times
New guidelines would potentially mandate window tints of more than 70 percent for the front windshield and front windows, and 35 percent for the rear windshield and rear seats, although guidelines have yet to be finalized.
Window tints are rated on light transmission, with 100 percent being a transparent window and 0 percent completely opaque.
A tint of 70 percent would mean that 70 percent of light is transmitted, while only 30 percent is blocked.
Mandatory regulations and binding regulations, rather than guidelines, must be established, the alliance said.
In a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee today, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) said window tints should be regulated with mandatory penalties, and included in road safety regulations.
Other countries, including the US, Japan and Germany, have strict regulations on window tints, but Taiwan has no inspection requirements, no way to conduct the inspections and no standards for old cars, Hung said.
Additionally, regulations for new and old cars should be largely the same, and any differences between them clearly defined, Hung added.
Guidelines on window tints would be issued next month and mandatory requirements with penalties would start next year, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) said.
New cars are subject to relevant regulations, Chen said, adding that new and old cars are divided based on their model year.
Window tint regulations have not been clear to the public, Highway Bureau Director-General Chen Wen-juei (陳文瑞) said.
This amendment would be carried out in stages, with guidelines next month to focus on public awareness, and regulations to be revised and enforced next year, Chen added.
In the future, window tints that do not abide by regulations would cause a vehicle to fail an inspection, Chen said.
Under current regulations, a car that fails inspection would have to be repaired and reinspected within a month. Failing that too, it would have its license plate suspended.
After six months of not passing inspection, the car’s license plate would be revoked.
Owners who fail to get their cars inspected when required are fined between NT$900 and NT$1,800.
Additional reporting by CNA
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