Citation

Clark BAJ. Road Transp. Res. 1993; 2(4): 76-86.

Affiliation

Dep of Defence, Victoria, Aust

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Australian Road Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

From 1970 to 1991, Australian regulations limited motor vehicle windshields to be clear in the primary Vision Area (PVA), with some tinting allowed in windshield areas outside the PVA and in other vehicle windows. In many other countries, tinting of the whole windshield is permitted., Worldwide, there are two opposing views on the matter. The anti-tinters, mostly vision specialists, claim that less light in dim lighting conditions inevitably results in making things harder to see, and believe that tinting increases the road traffic accident rate at night. The pro-tinters, often from the motor vehicle industry; dispute the accident hazards and claim improved buyer appeal, harmonisation of standards, and modest improvements in air conditioning., In April 1991, the Australian Transport Advisory Council acted against technical advice on the road safety hazard by directing that tinting be allowed. The driver visual handicap thereby introduced may eventually increase the night accident rate by 2 per cent or more. It is shown that tinting can also cause hazardous losses in driver vision under day-time conditions, especially when sunglasses are in use, and that the approval of windshield tint has unwittingly interfered with the basis under the Trade Practices Act for prohibiting the sale of sunglasses which are unsafe for drivers. Further restriction of the current sunglasses safety limits for luminous transmittance and coloration to suit the presence of windshield tinting is impracticable and has been rejected by the standards committee responsible, so that the removal of the road safety hazard requires a return to clear windshields.

Language: en