CLEARING TINTED WINDOW PROBLEM FINES JUMP 27 PER CENT IN NEW CRACKDOWN.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

The number of fines for illegally tinted windows has jumped 28 percent in the first five months of 2000 across the Los Angeles region, following a new rule that forbids ``fix-it'' tickets for the violation, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A change in the enforcement of the law ordered by the state courts means police no longer have the discretion to let drivers remove tint from their front windows to avoid a fine of at least $77.

The reason for the new, tough enforcement is that the state Judicial Council believes motorists who tint front windows and windshields purposely violated the law and should be fined.

What's more, police say they present a hazard to officers trying to see inside cars during stops and to drivers themselves.

``It's unsafe,'' said CHP Commissioner Spike Helmick. ``It reduces visibility. You don't know if it's a 19-year-old driving with perfect eyes or a 90-year-old man.''

The California Highway Patrol's Southern Division, which stretches from the Antelope Valley to the South Bay, has issued 3,079 citations from January to May of this year. It had issued 2,410 in the same period last year. About 300 fewer fix-it tickets have been issued this year compared with the same period in 1999.

Some owners of cars with tinted windows say the mandatory fine is a heavy-handed money grab. Others say leniency should be granted to some looking for a way to beat the California heat - unless they're blatantly flouting the law.

``If it's dark to a point where you can't see, they should definitely get a ticket,'' said Marian Khachukian, a Burbank resident.

Window-tinting businesses said they favor the change because it will cut into the business of unscrupulous competitors willing to place illegal tint in cars.

``There's a lot of shops that don't follow the laws,'' said Chris Sugai, owner of Solar Art in Canoga Park.

Helmick said he does not expect the total number of tickets, whether fix- its or finable, to rise. He acknowledged, though, that officers in the past have more often considered it a correctable offense.

Helmick is also among those taking a dim view of the rule his own agency began following May 15. He said he is in the midst of drafting a letter to the Judicial Council asking the panel to reconsider. He believes there is a difference between good-faith mistakes and blatant law-flouting that warrants different punishment.

``I think the officers should have the discretion,'' Helmick said. ``We don't make the laws, but there is a wide variance.''

Lt. Don Lehman of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division said officers usually focus their efforts more on drivers guilty of moving violations than on offenses such as tinted windows. Although he said he did not know enough about the effect of the change, he added that helping officers see into cars is valuable.

``It would assist in having the tint off, and maybe in paying the fine, (violators) wouldn't put the tint back on,'' he said.

But the state Judicial Council ordered the change after determining that tinted windows were not only a safety hazard, but did not count as an automotive problem caused by unavoidable wear and tear, said spokeswoman Lynn Holton. Correctable tickets are usually issued for such defects as burned-out lights or nonfunctioning gauges.

``It's a matter of intentionally altering the vehicle,'' Holton said. ``They found that (tinting) goes beyond the wear-and-tear test.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: Van Nuys window tinter Donny Lovvo believes new laws fining drivers $77 for illegally tinted front windows instead of fix-it tickets are ridiculous.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer