Car front side window sun shade regulations?

wyx087

wyx087

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I drive to and from work every day with the sun in my face. Drive north in the morning and drive south in the afternoon, the sun is always shining in from the side window. I had been thinking of getting something to block the sun. But normal £1 stick on mesh sun shades would block my side vision thus it'd be a bad idea. Tinted windows could perhaps work but a quick google says need to be 70% see through, which seems pointless in blocking the sun.

Solution I had came up with is to use a "static cling sun shade" on the side window, but cut it so it only covers the top 1/3 of the side window. Or I could get tint shop to do a sort of ND grad on the top 1/3 of my window. This would not block normal driving field of view because I'm relatively short and sit quite low down.

Is there a better solution? Would the above solution be breach of the law?




(no the sun visor doesn't work no matter how I sit. my ears still get burnt)
 
Most sun visors can be swung round to shade the side of your face.
 
lol :D

The sun visor sometimes only blocks my eyes from the sun. It needs to be quite a bit longer and bigger to block the sun from side of my face and ear.
 
put some sun cream on ;)

as long as the visor blocks the sun from your eyes thats all that matters.

you could look in to tints but i suspect the legal level of tint for the front window wouldnt offer much protection.
 
There are roller blind type things that stick to any window with suckers - simply pull down as far as needed. Shouldn't block too much vision (they're see through). Or a polo neck T-shirt!
 
Turn aircon up and set vents to blow cold air toward your face?
 
I guess the main question I'm asking is: where does the law stand if I don't touch lower part of the window, tint heavily on the top 1/3?

Like old cars with ND-grad type tint on top of their front windows.

Sucker type pull down sun shade would be too much hassle. I need to completely wind down my window to touch my card everytime I get want to into company car park.
 
My understanding is that the whole window has to have at least 70% visibility through it so a partial tint above that level would still be illegal.
 
.................I have a mate who was looking to start a car tinting business and he's up to speed with the legal side of it. I'll be seeing him sometime next week and can find out if it's not been 100% clarified (pun intended:D) by then. Gimme a shout to remind me.
 
Haha, M1 :)


Cars used to have a grad tint on the top edge of their window, so my thinking is surely this will be possible to do by a tint shop?
 
get a cushion and some sun cream job done
 
Move house! Live to the East or West of your workplace :)
 
wuyanxu said:
lol :D

The sun visor sometimes only blocks my eyes from the sun. It needs to be quite a bit longer and bigger to block the sun from side of my face and ear.
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Saabs have twin sun visors - you can move one to the side and leave the other in front of you.

neil_g said:
put some sun cream on ;)
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Um, the UV won't make it through the glass........
 
frank said:
A left hand drive car maybe
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Makes using the card swipe machine a real PITA when he wants to get into his workplace though. (Causes huge queues when a couple of furrenners are leaving car parks where you pay on exit!)
 
Haha, the full face mask does seem like a viable solution...... until you realise you might be mistaken for something else.


I've ordered a pair of window deflectors. Hopefully this will be enough. If not, I see Helford sells a sun visor extender which gets bad ratings for design choices making it highly adjustable.
 
I seem to remember that glass filters UV, and you cannot burn through glass as a result.
I don't burn very much, so can't say if that's true or not.
Anyway, the whole window has to let through 70% of the light, so a stick on film would be a no no. Same with a pull down screen. The only option is the sun visor pulled to one side. The windw still elts in 70% of the light, as a. the visor isn't big enough to block more, and in any case, the window still lets the light in...it's just it's then blocked internally.
 
You can get very burnt through glass a lot of modern glass does have a small amount of uv protection but a tint will offer more if it's a decent brand. Even a light tint will make a big difference to help keep the sun off you
 
In the words of a song

"if I could give you one piece of advice, sunscreen would be it!"
 
so..... getting see through UV filter tint is okay, but the 70% regulation dictates the whole of the window must let through over 70% of light. Even though the top 1/3 never gets used and can be blocked by visor.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_254027_langId_-1_categoryId_165490#tab1
This looks like the ticket. Fiddly, but would be able to block the sun when clipped to the furtherist part of visor from the swivel arm. I was hoping to find a solution that is less fiddly, more permanent.
 
Father used to have a car years ago, that had 4 sun visors that pulled down from the roof lining - one for the windscreen and a separate one for the side windows (for both driver and passenger) ...there are occasions now as I drive to work in a morning that I wish I had an extra one to the side window
 
cheapest option is two cushions on your seat to raise you above the sun angle ,and some wood blocks for your shoes to reach the pedals ;)
 
Sell the car,take the bus and sit on the other side
 
Along with the other silly ideas - get a chauffeur :)
 
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