Hyattsville, MD asked in Civil Litigation and Traffic Tickets for Maryland

Q: I have a tint medical exemption, can i get a license plate that states that or an official decal 2 avoid cop pull overs?

If I have a medical exemption that allows me to have 5% tint on my car windows, but I want to avoid the inevitable - being pulled over left and right by police officers because of my tint just to end up showing them my medical exemption, but I still end up late, harrassed, perhaps with a ticket for some other thing the cop decided i was guilty of, and just plain inconvenienced. There has to be some way of making my medical exemption known without pulling me over. Something like a special license plate that states I'm medically exempt from the tint law; or, an official decal I can affix to my bumper; or SOMETHING. please let me know if there is anything or if you have any thoughts on this. Also, i would like to know if a cop can see my medical exemption when running my license plate. How about when they run my MDDL? if they were going to pull me over for my tint but are able to see my medical exemption when running my plates, then shouldn't I be safe from being pulled over? Thank you!

1 Lawyer Answer

A: Petition the MVA to adopt a regulation that allows the MVA to create and issue a decal you can affix to the exterior of the car notifying the law enforcement that the vehicle owner has a certified medical waiver for tinted windows. It would have to have an expiration date corresponding to the waiver, which is limited to two years per waiver period. Other than that, you could try to create your own decal or sign asserting that your vehicle has such a waiver in the possession of the driver, and hope the officer both sees it and believes it. There's no magic bullet that's going to solve your problem. When something is visibly illegal, but a few random people are exempt from compliance with the law that makes it illegal, there are few practical solutions. Handicap placards and plates were invented to immediately allow officers to ascertain whether a vehicle is legally parked in a handicap space; registration stickers show dates of expiration to immediately indicate whether a vehicle has current registration. It would seem a similar sticker or decal would suffice in your circumstances, but none has ever been thought of or invented. Make the argument that in the absence of such an officially issued tint-waiver sticker, you are being discriminated against based on your medical disability by constantly being subjected to police detention. Here's a link regarding citizen participation in petitioning for new regulations: https://sra.maryland.gov/pod/citizen-participation-regulation-making-process

Good luck.

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