DPS’ Camacho: Ban tint on cars

The Department of Public Safety is pushing for a ban on the use of tint on vehicles in hopes of decreasing the number of traffic accidents in the Commonwealth.

According to DPS commissioner Edward Camacho, the issue has been brought up with the Legislature.

“I am pushing forth with the Legislature that we get to rid of [tint on cars],” he said. “We just have to have them all removed, even the unmarked law enforcement vehicles.”

Camacho said he wants this done due to increase in traffic accidents in the CNMI, most of them caused by the limited visibility afforded by tinted windows of vehicles.

“When you are driving a fully tinted vehicle at night, it is very difficult to see, even if the headlights are on bright, and that gets worse once it starts to rain. The tint adds more limited visibility to the operator of the vehicle. This [ban on tinted cars] is just to promote safety and going back to having visual contact and communication between vehicle operators.”

Camacho said communication between drivers was a practice in the past; however, due to the installation of tints, this has decreased.

“In the past, we made eye contact with the other operator and not just rely on signal lights or the speed of the car; that enables us to know the intensity of the other operator, but now we can’t do that because of the tints,” he said.

The department chief said he expects many to oppose the measure, but explained that an alternative to tinting is currently available and should be used instead.

“People argue that the reason why they use tint is because it keeps the sun and heat out. There are all kinds of dangers that goes with that, though. [But] there’s already a tinting system in place right now—a tint chemical—where you don’t even have to darken the windshield. Put the tint chemical on the windshield and that will repel the heat, and the car will be as cool as if there’s no sun out.”

Camacho explained that implementing the measure is necessary to comply with federal laws.

“We receive federal money to fix our highways and to enforce the laws on our streets, and one of the requirement is for us to comply with federal law that says no tint. Only the factory-made tints on vehicles are to be allowed and nothing more,” he said.

Further, the commissioner said he understands the use of tints for “law enforcement type operations.”

Annual statistics show that traffic related crashes increased in the CNMI from 2002 to 2003. A total of 3,168 accidents complaints were reported last year, an increase of 723 over that of 2002’s 2,445 traffic related crashes.

Of the over 3,000 complaints, 311 occurred in December, the most compared to other months in the year. The month with the least number of crashes was February, with 229. Unlike 2002, each month in 2003 had over 200 complaints. The biggest difference between the two years was found in March—66 in 2002 and 263 in 2003—and August—81 in 2002 and 266 in 2003.

Reports by month are as follows:
Year-2002, 2003
January-218, 286
February-200, 229
March-66, 263
April-156, 243
May-176, 264
June-194, 262
July-190, 240
August-81 , 266
September-215, 256
October-251, 267
November-215, 281
December-283, 311

The statistics also indicated that a total of 378 persons under the age of 22 years old were involved in the crashes, while 1,126 were between the ages of 22-56 years. The age group featuring the most victims was 56 and above, which had a total number of 1,249 patients, resulting in a total of 4,081 victims in 2003.

Of the over 4,000, 691 were treated then released from the Commonwealth Health Center emergency room, while 212 were admitted.

Also, a total of 120 patients were treated in cases involving a vehicle and a pedestrian, while patients involved in vehicles running off roadways reached a total of 37.