With only weeks before vehicle tint regulations take effect, the sheer scale of non-compliance makes it unlikely that all motorists will be ready for the September 1 deadline, government sources said.
Director of Citizen Engagement and Media Relations in the Prime Minister’s Office, Roy Morris, said that after testing “tens of thousands of vehicles” over the past week and a half, results show that “far more vehicles are outside of the law than are within the law”.
“I do recognise that . . . like the suppliers say, they are going to have a mammoth task trying to get vehicles up to spec by the 1st of September and in all reasonableness, it is unlikely that you can get everybody changed by September 1,” Morris admitted during a media briefing at the Wildey Gymnasium testing site on Wednesday.
The ongoing islandwide testing programme is being carried out at 12 locations and, according to Morris, is “a goodwill exercise” rather than an enforcement operation. Its purpose, he stressed, is to let drivers know where they stand before The Barbados Police Service begins roadside checks in September.
“It is not designed in any way to give people certification. It is simply to let them see the numbers,” Morris said. The testers, all young people specially recruited and trained for the project, “don’t have any power to enforce any tint laws” and are prohibited from declaring whether a car passes or fails.
Under the amended Road Traffic Regulations, front side windows must allow at least 25 per cent light transmission, rear windows and rear windshields must allow at least 20 per cent, and windscreens must permit 70 per cent or more. The aim, authorities have said, is to improve visibility for law enforcement and enhance road safety.
Morris revealed that after testing, many vehicle owners were surprised that their tint was too dark. He said in numerous cases, it was because they had applied additional tint over factory glass.
“Yes, vehicles, do come in with a stain from the manufacturers. But if you already come in with a 15 per cent stain or a 20 per cent stain and you have now put on top of that a tint film, then clearly you’re going to fall outside of the law,” he explained.
In some cases, failures were caused by films applied directly to windscreens.
A motorist getting his vehicle tested at the Wildey Gymnasium on Wednesday. (SZB)
“It was because the driver had applied a film of some sort to the windshield,” Morris said.
Public service vehicles (PSVs) are not being tested, as the law flatly prohibits any tint.
“The law says PSVs are not to have any tint . . . so there’s really no point to testing it,” Morris stated. “For me, it is like you have an illegal firearm and you go to the police station to report that it isn’t working. It is illegal.”
The extent of non-compliance is such that even some Members of Parliament failed the test. One MP’s vehicle, Morris disclosed, “scored zero, meaning absolutely no light was getting in on any window or on the windshield”.
“The prime minister last week Wednesday instructed her driver to bring M50 over here, and that was tested, and as far as I know, the glass at the back also failed . . .”
From September 1, enforcement will be entirely the responsibility of the police.
“We provide the numbers. The owners have to decide what they’re going to do,” Morris said.
The revised tint rules were announced in early 2024 following Cabinet’s approval of tighter standards under the Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations, aimed at addressing concerns about criminal concealment, driver visibility, and night-time safety.
Similar measures have been adopted across the Caribbean in recent years, with Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica all citing law enforcement and public safety reasons for stricter tint laws.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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