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| A new bill proposed in the Kansas legislature will allow darker window tinting for certain medical conditions. |
Kansas law requires window tinting to allow at least 35 percent light transmission. Rep. Sydney Carlin, D-Manhattan, introduced House Bill 2471, which would change state regulations to allow a medical exemption for those with certain conditions to tint their vehicle windows to 20 percent light transmission.
“There are plenty of people with diseases who need this protection,” Carlin said. “People with skin cancer, lupus and macular degeneration, they all have sensitivities to light.”
Carlin noted that at 35 percent light transmission people are still left vulnerable to the light that gets through, which makes driving painful or uncomfortable. Carlin also noted that Kansas is one of only nine states that do not allow such medical exemptions.
“We need to be able to take care of peoples medical disabilities and this is one of them,” Carlin said.
Carlin presented the bill to the House Transportation Committee last week, but there were several concerns.
According to Carlin, the major concerns come from police officers who are concerned about the safety of darker tinted windows.
“They think of gangs when they see it and that’s their concern,” Carlin said. “But these people are not gang members.”
Carlin’s solution to the safety of the officers is to require a medical exemption sticker to be placed on the bumper of the vehicle.
“If an officer sees the sticker on the bumper they would know there is a reason and they wouldn’t have to pull them over at all,” Carlin said.
Though the medical conditions are real, Carlin is concerned that the fear of safety from the public officials will prevent the bill from making it through committee.
“I understand the concerns,” Nordstrom said. “But legislation is all about compromise. The police and the legislators have to find something they can agree on, a middle ground.”
Nordstrom is hopeful that this legislation will come through so that people with his conditions can protect themselves.
“Cancer is the enemy here, not us,” Nordstrom said. “There has to be something done.”
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