Des Moines, Iowa — A Senate subcommittee has advanced a bill that would let Iowans with a doctor’s recommendation have a darker tint applied to the windows of their vehicles.
Senator Waylon Brown of Osage says the bill as written isn’t ready, but he’d like to figure out a solution.
Dracula Disease is a real genetic disorder that’s likely the origin of the vampire myth. Iowans who suffered eye discomfort in bright sunlight, a condition called photophobia, used to be able to get a medical exemption and the DOT’s permission to have a darker tint applied to their vehicles’ windows, but legislators repealed that law in 2012. Brown says he has constituents who got those window tint exemptions before it began illegally.
Law enforcement officials say vehicles that have a darker tint on the windshield or the front side windows are a safety risk. Iowa State Patrol Sergeant Wade Major says tinted windows prevent eye-to-eye contact between motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians at intersections.
Major also says officers approaching a vehicle during a traffic stop are trained to look for the driver’s hands.
Law enforcement officials say encountering more tinted windows will make it harder to enforce Iowa’s seat belt law or see when a driver is illegally using a smartphone.
