Re: alfa-digest V7 #845

[Pottree@domain.elided]

In a message dated 6/30/99 12:35:18 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:

<< All Texas window tinters are
 required to abide by the window tint regs in Texas. Some vehicle inspectors
 will check the tint for not exceeding the legal limits in the state. (The
 CA law is really dumb, IMHO! Limitations on the darkness of the tint seem
 to make more sense than banning it on the windows forward of the seat
 backs.) >>


Bernie, Bernie, Bernie (did I tell you I have a cousin Bernie in TX, ex of 
Roscoe, ex of Abilene, now living in E., TX near LA, the Louisiana kind)... 
you guys in TX don't get it, CA-style:

It's illegal to tint the front windows because the Gestapo wants to be able 
to look in and see who is driving so they can make "profiled" stops, for 
example, if you are "driving while black" or too young for that nice car in a 
not-great neighborhood.  Also, it's an infraction you can be stopped for (ask 
my Dad, a gent of Fred di's age) so they have an excuse to roust you for 
anything else, such as drugs, weapons, a light that doesn't work, not wearing 
seatbelts, not having a kid in an approved car seat, smuggling illegal 
aliens, etc.  You do NOT want to invite CA's Finest to stop you when driving 
an Alfa, and the tinting can be an extra excuse to do that, and then of 
course they will find something to write a profit-making citation for.  The 
whole thing is not about safety but about control and money.  IOW, a scam on 
the public.  

Generally, I am a model citizen of decidedly liberal persuasion, but the law 
enforcement occupying forces in CA are enough to push even a Socialist over 
the brink.  I guess TX hasn't caught up with that stuff yet.  Do they have 
hidden cameras at freeway onramps and key intersections photographic 
scofflaws?  Do they stop you for cracked tail lights and the like?  Do they 
enforce these things selectively according to race, age, and type of vehicle?

In some places, an Alfa is enough of a red flag, even if you're hardly 
speeding at all.

Laws like these are passed in CA to try to make up the financial shortfall 
caused by the frenzy of the locals to reduce ordinary taxes.  Our friends in 
places like England and the Scandinavian countries would choke on their tea 
and herring if they got wind of the tax programs we have here.

But even partial, rearward window tinting has a definite effect on the cabin 
temp of a car, even in our dry heat climate.  

Recently I visited Italdesign in Torino where the GTV-6 was designed.  It's 
no wonder, experiencing their weather (downpours) that Georgetto didn't 
consider the greenhouse effect when creating a design with all that beautiful 
glass!  Nor that the folks in Arese, minutes from the Alps, considered a 
silly device like an air conditioner a throwaway afterthought of no 
consequence to serious drivers.

Charlie
LA, CA, USA
AROSC

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