Motorists are scrambling to comply with strict new vehicle tint regulations before they come into force on September 1, with tinting companies warning that unprecedented last-minute demand means many may be unable to meet the deadline.
Under the new specifications, tint darkness must not exceed 25 per cent on rear windows, 20 per cent on front side windows, and 70 per cent on windscreens.
But several companies say the volume of work, particularly tint removal, is slowing things down.
Owner of Tintz Plus, Christopher Cumberbatch, said customers have been flooding in over the past few weeks, worried they will be stopped and fined if their vehicles do not meet the new standard.
“I can’t see the deadline being met, to be honest, not even if everybody on board. Guys have brought in more fellas to help, especially with removal of films,” he said. “Removal is the most time-consuming stuff. I still think they need a little more time.”
He noted that this time around, drivers are taking the regulations more seriously than ever.
“We keep hearing that, you know, they did the new testing sites and all kinds of stuff for people to come and get their tint tested . . . . I’ve never seen anything so well followed in Barbados.”
As a result, he said bookings have surged by 25 per cent, with the schedule now packed for the rest of this month.
“We have bookings for up to the end of August at the moment. Normally, people would only book two or three days in advance. But right now we’ve got bookings . . . for the whole of August.”
But with older tints often requiring hours to remove and no work being done at night, the shop can only handle a limited number of vehicles each day.
“Some cars are really easy, you can get them out within one hour, an hour and a half, and then other cars vary and take up to like three hours to so. The problem with that is you have no idea what you’re gonna [encounter] before it gets here. So some days you can get away easy. Some days you’re here till five, six o’clock trying to push off the work.”
Cumberbatch added that some customers were cutting corners, only tinting side windows because the rear glass is stained, while others are simply removing tint altogether and driving without it due to cost constraints.
On the matter of health exemptions which allow for darker window tints than normally permitted under law, he said: “They didn’t say how much darker, but a darker film, and then you have to apply to [the] Licensing Authority and see if you’ll be granted an exception to have a darker one . . . . How long that process will take is another question.”
At Sunshade Tinting, owner Deighton Henry is also seeing a spike in appointments.
“Last year, when the announcement first came out, there wasn’t no big influx . . . . You may get extra one or two customers, but now, my phone has been going off every day. Everybody wanna come and make an appointment, because we do appointments from Tuesday to Friday,” Henry said, adding that Saturdays are reserved for walk-ins and now see long queues.
To ease the financial burden, his business is offering a temporary discount — charging $320 for removal and installation for certain vehicle sizes, down from the usual $400.
“Before, when we charge customers for removal and installation, sometimes they try to take off the material themselves, and that made it a lot harder . . . cause they leave a lot of glue on the vehicle. So we don’t charge. Just come, pay one price, and that’s it,” Henry said, adding that the price is $80 for customers who only want tint removed.
Both Tintz Plus and Sunshade Tinting offer tint testing at no cost.
Meanwhile, the government is also facilitating free tint testing at 12 locations from Wednesday, August 6 to Sunday, August 10.
There are testing locations in eight parishes:
Christ Church: Christ Church Foundation School, St David’s Anglican Church car park
St Michael: Combermere School, Wildey Gymnasium, Queen’s College, Kensington Oval
St Philip: Princess Margaret Secondary School
St James: Frederick Smith Secondary School
St George: St George Secondary School
St Peter: Alexandra School
St Thomas: Welchman Hall Post Office
St Joseph: Grantley Adams Secondary School
Although the September 1 deadline looms, officials have not yet indicated whether there will be any grace period or enforcement delay for those still in the process of getting their vehicles compliant.
louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb
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