Darkened windows

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 15:47
Darkened windows - Bobbin Threadbare

Having a read of the paper today - they had a selection of 'unpublished' letters. This one seemed apt:

"SIR – With reference to your correspondent’s inquiry, I have always understood that vehicles with darkened windows were driven by people with ugly children.

Sir Richard Dashwood Bt

Ledwell, Oxfordshire"

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 16:25
Darkened windows - bathtub tom

My family have a habit of waving at the people inside cars with darkened windows - because they think we can't see them!

There is quite a lot of madness in my family.

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 16:31
Darkened windows - unthrottled

I assumed that they were driven by people who read Hello! and copy what the slebs do.

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 16:53
Darkened windows - Ethan Edwards

They are apparrently no good for dogs. Since I was told by someone with absolute certainty that obstruct the view when dogging. Which I can but assume is something to do with transporting your pet?

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 17:29
Darkened windows - oldtoffee

Hyundai Santa Fe, quite dark factory tinted rear windows. Coming back from France SWMBO 's and my "smalls" which we washed the day before hadn't dried out properly so we laid them out in the back of the car to dry on the journey home. UK Customs at Le Tunnel, first time out of 20+ journeys they've ever asked, "Sir, please could you lower your rear window so I can have a look at your contents?" I had forgotten about the laundry on display; cue one smiling lady customs officer and me unable to come up with a smart or witty explanation.

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 17:33
Darkened windows - tony g
Darkened windows are popular among devout members of the Muslim community .its part of their belief that a wife shouldn't show her face in public .

I saw a muslim family recently getting into a car with darkened windows ,mum was wearing a full burka in black and sunglasses .

A belt and braces arrangement, is a popular Yorkshire expression !

Tony g

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 18:20
Darkened windows - unthrottled

I saw a muslim family recently getting into a car with darkened windows ,mum was wearing a full burka in black and sunglasses .

The other week I checked my rear view mirror and was astonished to see that the BMW behind appeared to have no driver. Upon closer inspection it turned out the vehicle was in fact being driven by a lady in a burka and was being operated very competently-in stark contrast to my own car that by now drifted onto the other side of the road!

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 20:15
Darkened windows - Bromptonaut

I can't understand the need but so long as windscreen and front side windows are clearish (ie I can see the driver) I'm not going to get excited.

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 21:16
Darkened windows - Happy Blue!

My last two cars had fairly dark rear side windows out of the factory. They are useful from a security point of view, but in other respects a bit irritating. Nothing to get worried over though.

On the other hand, those people who deliberately tint the front side windows to avoid being seen just make me think of drug dealers.

On Sunday I saw a fairly old Jag S-Type. The driver infringed three laws: -

Jaguat bonnet ornament (as fitted to export models) but illegal in the UK as they casue injury to pedestrians

Darkened front side windows (but not so dark that I was able to get a glimpse of him....holding his iPhone in his left hand and driving and talking at the same time. Wazzock.

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 21:27
Darkened windows - unthrottled

They are useful from a security point of view, but in other respects a bit irritating

Perhaps. But there's something rather unfriendly about them. I live on a dark lane. One by one, every house other than mine has built up 6 ft high walls and solid gates. There's no practical difference, it's just that the lane which once seemed open and welcoming, now feels forbidding and suspicious.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 07:31
Darkened windows - RT

Legal privacy glass, as I have, isn't a problem - the windscreen and front side windows are exactly the same as any other car with tinted glass, ie a MINIMUM of 70/75% light transmission. My car gets privacy glass because it's difficult to fit an effective load cover on a 7-seat car, for use as a 5-seater.

Legally, privacy glass can only be used behind the line of the driver.

The problem is that many people regard themselves above the law because cutbacks and changes in policing methods mean they're unlikely to be prosecuted.

Edited by RT on 31/10/2012 at 07:33

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 07:35
Darkened windows - RT
On Sunday I saw a fairly old Jag S-Type. The driver infringed three laws: -

Jaguar bonnet ornament (as fitted to export models) but illegal in the UK as they casue injury to pedestrians

It may be illegal on current models but not when the car was new - few vehicle regulations are retrospective.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 07:41
Darkened windows - dpadmore
It was never legal on the recent S-type but probably was on the 60s version. I think the pedestrian shredder was outlawed in the 70s if memory serves
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Wed 31 Oct 2012 07:53
Darkened windows - RT
It was never legal on the recent S-type but probably was on the 60s version. I think the pedestrian shredder was outlawed in the 70s if memory serves

I took "fairly old Jag S-type" to mean the original.

Edited by RT on 31/10/2012 at 07:53

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 07:53
Darkened windows - Happy Blue!

The S-Type was about 12 years old so certainly illegal.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 10:34
Darkened windows - Ed V

I dislike WAGS windows almost as a matter of principle. They smack of gated communities and Monte Carlo. All the nonsense about security is just that. Cobham and Alderley Edge.

Whoever leaves stuff of real value on a back seat rather than, if you must leave it in the car at all, the boot?

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 11:31
Darkened windows - davecooper

Drove a hire Focus Econotec recently which had privacy glass in the back. This was the first (and hopefully the last) time I have to drive a car fitted with this. Fine on a bright sunny day but trying to park at night was a nightmare, especially on unlit streets. In addition, I was backing out of my drive one night and nearly didn't see a kid skateboarding up the middle of the road which I certainly would have with clear windows. Not a fan.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 11:41
Darkened windows - Happy Blue!

Ed V - when you have a seven seater with a tonneau cover than does not fit when the two back seats are down, then you have a need for security. Darker glass aids that.

Some of us work for a living using fairly high value items which by the nature of the work, have to be left in the car at times.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 11:50
Darkened windows - Falkirk Bairn

Some of us work for a living using fairly high value items which by the nature of the work, have to be left in the car at times.

In the old days we used to put stuff in the boot, out of sight!

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 15:33
Darkened windows - Ed V

Happy Blue - point well made.

But since Wags' windows have percolated down from the expensive cars, I'd hazard a guess that security was an excuse for mimicking a Sleb's style - not you of course!!

But maybe you're famous too!

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 17:22
Darkened windows - jamie745

Oh come on, are you suggesting being run over by a two tonne car isn't going to hurt irrespective of whether it's got a little model on the front or not?

They don't harm pedestrians at all, unless said pedestrian is an idiot and walks in the way of a moving vehicle. If that happens they're likely to come off pretty bad either way.

Please don't tell me Mercedes don't have the three-pointed-star anymore because of pathetic rules like this?

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 18:23
Darkened windows - Happy Blue!

The Merc star bends back and may only provide a modest skin burn if a pedestrian lands on it.. The leaping jaguar will really puncture the skin.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 18:35
Darkened windows - tony g
(They don't harm pedestrians at all, unless said pedestrian is an idiot and walks in the way of a moving vehicle. If that happens they're likely to come off pretty bad either way.)

In an accident modern cars are designed to allow pedestrians who are involved in an accident with the front of a car , to be thrown on to the cars bonnet ,rather than to be thrown backwards onto the road and fastened under the car .Head injuries are less when a pedestrians head hits the bonnet of a car which has some give in it .Than when a pedestrians head hits the road .

The idiot pedestrian ! may have been on a pedestrian crossing when they were struck by the idiot ! jaguar driver who may have been speeding or using his mobile phone while driving .

Add a phalic jaguar symbol to the equation and the pedestrian will be impaled as well as battered .

Mercedes stars were always mounted on a spring that allowed them to lie flat against the bonnet when they were involved in an impact ,short of getting a finger or your nose in one of the stars spaces you couldn't be injured by the Mercedes symbol .
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Wed 31 Oct 2012 18:54
Darkened windows - jamie745

What about Rolls Royce then?

I have seen a few S-Types with the Jaguar model on the front, mine doesn't have it but I'd rather it did. It looks lovely and if it deters morons from walking in the road it's even better. Sort of like the spike on the steering wheel but for pedestrians.

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 19:11
Darkened windows - tony g
The rolls Royce emblem ,spirit of ecstasy ? Is set on a spring that retracts downwards into the radiator grille when it's involved in an accident .

What about fitting sharpened rotating spikes to the wheels ,as a roman chariot ,that would really keep pedestrians where they belong .

Edited by tony g on 31/10/2012 at 19:14

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Wed 31 Oct 2012 19:43
Darkened windows - jamie745

I'd love that. Have the added bonus of keeping cyclists in cycle lanes too. Only downside might be pulling up at the side of the road to pick someone up and cutting their legs off.

Sorry it just seems as though we now believe pedestrians getting run over is normal and we should somehow accept it. I was always told to not walk in front of moving vehicles and unless a car mounts a pavement I see no reason for a pedestrian to ever be run over.

Ban the Jaguar model but we keep buses on the road?

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Sat 3 Nov 2012 10:17
Darkened windows - PatrickO

They go in to the same category as private registration plates for me.

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Sat 3 Nov 2012 12:07
Darkened windows - tony g
What's wrong with private reg plates ?

Given that people exercise choice and buy a specific car that appeals to them ,why not buy a number plate that makes thier car stand out from the mass of other cars that are similar .

Buying a private number is the same as buying a mondeo instead of an insignia .

It's all about exercising choice and individuality .

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