Car window tinting is applied to your vehicle for a number of reasons including:

Privacy – Car window tints can offer you some level of privacy, no more worrying about people having a nosey in you back seats when the car is parked up.

Shatter proofing – Tinting your car windows means that there is a protective layer of film across the glass so in the event that the window should break the window tint will hold the glass together and stop the glass shattering across the interior of the car.

Temperature – Tinting your windows can help to greatly reduce the heat inside your car during those summer months, making your daily commute or that long road trip a more pleasurable experience.

Protecting your car’s interior – Direct sunlight and UV rays can damage your upholstery over time, by having your vehicle’s windows tinted it will help to drastically reduce this damage.

Protecting your passengers – Adding window tints to your car is a great way of shielding you passengers from the beating rays of the sun, this is especially handy if you have young children as it removes the need for unsightly sun visors stuck to the interior of the car with rubber suckers.

Aesthetically pleasing - Let’s face it, your car looks much nicer with tinted windows and it adds a little more class and cool to any vehicle.

So what ever your reason for having your windows tinted you can rest assured that Advanced Vehicle Tints & Wraps will provide you with the highest quality of product and service available across the Scottish Borders and beyond!

Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 as amended specify the minimum levels of light that must pass through the windscreen and front side windows.

The limits are:

Motor Vehicles first used before 1 April 1985: The windscreen and front side windows must allow at least 70% of light to be transmitted through them.

Motor Vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1985: The light transmitted through the windscreen must be at least 75%.

The front side windows must allow at least 70% of light to be transmitted through them. If the glass is tinted to a point whereby it lets through less light, then the vehicle does not meet legal requirements.

The windscreen and the front side windows to either side of the drivers’ head.

It restricts the driver’s vision, especially in dark conditions. This may prevent drivers from seeing other road users or pedestrians.

It also prevents other road users and pedestrians from confirming through eye contact that they have been seen.

The purpose of the law is to ensure the drivers’ ability to see the road is not excessively restricted by glass tint.

If you are the driver:

You must not drive a vehicle on the road with the windscreen or front side windows excessively tinted. You may also invalidate your insurance with this modification, particularly as the vehicle is likely to be illegal.

If you are a tinting company:

You must not modify, or offer to supply, a part that when fitted to a vehicle means that it does not comply with Construction & Use Regulations.

If you’re selling a vehicle with extra tinting applied to the windscreen or front side windows:

The vehicle may now have glass that is darker than permitted by Construction & Use Regulations, in which case the vehicle should not be sold.

Excessively tinted glass is seen as a serious issue but one which currently affects only a small number of the 24 million vehicles tested annually. To include this item in the MOT test would require all 18,000 garages to incur expenditure on special test equipment and the time taken to carry out an MOT would increase. The MOT fee would have to be raised to cover the extra time and investment. This extra cost would affect all motorists - all for a small number of vehicles. With the current levels of offending, roadside enforcement is a better route as it targets the offenders while minimising the cost and inconvenience to compliant road users.

Yes. VOSA staff throughout the country have been issued with testing equipment. If the equipment is not available, a subjective assessment will be carried out. If the vehicle is considered dangerous to drive then an immediate prohibition may be issued.