6 Things Pennsylvanians Can Be Ticketed for Because of What’s on Their Car

Studded tires became legal in Pennsylvania on November 1.

Tires aren’t the only part of your car that comes with rules, though.

Here’s what can get you ticketed in Pennsylvania because of what is (or isn’t) on your car.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Vehicle Code rules and fines are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

1. Roof-Mounted Off-Road Lamps

Off-road lighting lamps are legal to mount on the roof or roll bar of your vehicle.

Once you’re driving on a highway or trafficway, though, those lamps have to sit under an opaque cover that keeps any light from getting out.

If you turn one on while you drive on those roads, you face a $100 fine.

So if your lamps light up the trail on Saturday, cover them before you pull onto the road home.

2. Objects Hanging From Your Mirror

The Vehicle Code covers anything hung from your inside rearview mirror, or otherwise placed or attached, that materially blocks your vision through the front windshield.

A hanging object that creates a safety hazard is covered as well, even if your view stays clear.

“Materially” is the key word.

A parking pass, graduation tassel or air freshener all hang the same way.

The obstruction part of the rule turns on how much of the road they hide from you.

No penalty is listed for it, so the catch-all fine of $25 applies.

3. Tinted Plate Covers

Pennsylvania law makes it unlawful to display your license plate under a tinted cover.

Anything that blocks a red light camera from reading your plate, or hides the state that issued it, carries a $100 fine.

The same law covers a plate so dirty that no one can read its number at a reasonable distance.

Mud counts too.

A frame is fine as long as it only minimally outlines the plate and leaves the number and issuing state identifiable.

4. Loose Loads

Every load on your vehicle has to be fastened so the load or its covering can't come loose, detach or become a hazard.

A mattress, canoe or Christmas tree on your roof counts as a load.

Driving with an unsecured load that injures no one and damages nothing can still cost you $100 to $300.

Injuries or damage change that.

If a piece of your load escapes and injures someone or damages another vehicle or property, the fine is $300 to $1,000.

5. Windshield Stickers and Signs

You can't drive with stickers, signs or posters on your windshield that materially block your clear view of the road.

The Vehicle Code lists no separate fine for it, so the same $25 general penalty applies as for a hanging object.

The exceptions are your inspection certificate and any other officially required sticker.

The same limit applies to your side and rear windows, with one exception: The law doesn't count a registration permit as a material obstruction.

So a big Steelers or Eagles decal across your back window falls under the same limit if it blocks your clear view of the highway.

6. Window Tint

Tint on your windshield or side windows is against the law when it keeps people from seeing inside your car.

PennDOT's tint table puts a number on it: Your windshield and front side windows have to let through at least 70 percent of light.

On a passenger car from 1998 or newer, your rear side windows and rear window have to meet the same 70 percent.

In that table, trucks and multipurpose passenger vehicles have no requirement for those windows.

Pennsylvania eliminated the requirement that inspection stations check tint.

Even so, you can be stopped and cited on the road if your tint is over the limit.

Medical exemptions cover colorless tint that filters ultraviolet light.

State law requires you to carry the exemption certificate in your vehicle and show it when a police officer asks.

Selling a Car With Exempt Tint

A tint exemption shields you from a citation only until you sell the car to a buyer who doesn't qualify for one.

At that sale, the exemption becomes null and void under state law.

Before the sale, the law makes removing all of the tint your responsibility as the seller.

You remove and destroy the exemption certificate as well.

The buyer gets a notarized statement with your name and address.

Expired Inspection Stickers

Your inspection sticker is exempt from the limit on windshield stickers, but it has to be currently valid.

Driving without a valid sticker can cost you a fine of up to $25.

State law lets police remove an expired sticker.

The law gives you ten days of leeway in certain situations.

If you're driving to a scheduled inspection appointment, you have until ten days after your sticker expires.

If you've just bought a vehicle, you get ten days after the sale or after it enters Pennsylvania, whichever comes later.

You can face only one prosecution over a missing or expired sticker in any 24-hour period.

Studded Tires

You can run studded tires on your car from November 1 through April 15 of the following year.

The governor can extend those dates by executive order.

Outside that window, the fine depends on the month.

Studs used from April 16 through May 31 draw a $35 fine.

The fine is $45 in June and $55 from July through October.

Studs face a separate limit on length.