“You like it darker? Fine, so do I.” A line from Stephen King, but also a line in a boardroom somewhere with automotive corporation executives.
New cars on the roads have something increasingly dark in common: The windows. Cars are coming off the dealership lot with darker factory-tinted windows. The front driver and passenger windows in particular. Formerly spared by dark tints, the driver and passenger windows are now dark enough that one cannot see the driver inside the vehicle.
This is a problem.
Last year, when I was biking to work one morning, I was stopped at a stop sign. A vehicle to my right slowed down to a stop—they had the right of way. I watched the vehicle, waiting for it to turn. The car’s windows were tinted enough that I could not see the driver. The vehicle took a left turn toward me. I was looking directly at where the driver should be inside their driver-side window as they started to accelerate. I was sure the driver must see me, even though I could not see them. I was standing up in the open in my lane next to the stop sign—a big object in the middle of the road.
As the car accelerated, it cut the corner, moving straight toward me. I was shocked for a second, realizing this vehicle might hit me. It did. It accelerated straight into me and even continued to speed up as the vehicle plowed into me. It was man versus some dark humanless machine.
It hit me with the left side of their front bumper, breaking my bike, and I fell to the ground with it. I was truly shocked. After hitting me, the human behind the machine appeared. “Sorry,” they said.
My bike was broken, but I thankfully came out of it with only minor bruising. It could have been worse.
Was this avoidable? Absolutely. If I had been able to see the human in the car was not paying attention, I would have shuffled out of the way to attempt to avoid getting hit.
After the incident, I now make sure to wear bright, reflective colors. Would that have helped in this case? Not likely.
What if it was a kid on their bike? I’m tall, so I was pushed on top of the hood. If it was a child or someone on an adaptive bike, trike, or hand cycle, they may have been killed. It doesn’t matter if we are tall and brightly adorned if we can’t make eye contact with a human driver. With tinted windows, pedestrians and cyclists are completely robbed of our ability to see the human drivers, which is the main form of communication to acknowledge each others’ presence and intended move. With tinted windows, we are robbed of our ability to perceive a threat and unable to react defensively.
I consider myself lucky. Now, when I see vehicles with tinted windows potentially turning, I assume they don’t see me. It is stressful. The human element that provided us with some assurance is gone.
I have put the onus on myself, as if I had made a mistake, and feel the need to correct how I move in the world as a cyclist and be more alert. I need to be ready to jump away from a machine that can easily kill me because I have no idea if the human driver behind it sees me. It is a relief when I see an older car at an intersection with a clear driver-side window, and we can give a head nod of recognition. Riding among the new dark-windowed machines feels dystopian. The human element is completely gone.
I now pay close attention to the vehicles with tinted windows. When I was a kid in high school, I remember everyone saying it was illegal to tint your driver and passenger windows. Only people who were trying to hide drinking and driving, drug use, or for whatever other reason would get aftermarket window tints.
But now, there are dark tints on vehicles rolling out of the dealership. Is it the manufacturer or the dealer doing this? I feel like someone should be held responsible for the accidents caused by tinted windows and the inability to see inside and to communicate visually.
A week ago, the same incident happened to a friend of mine. She recounted that she was at a crosswalk, walking her bike with a flashing ” walk” sign. There was a new pickup to her left, stopped at the intersection. She looked at the black reflective passenger window and could not see inside, but the truck was stopped, and she followed the” walk” sign—it felt safe. Suddenly, the truck accelerated, turned right, and hit her with the right side of the truck’s bumper, damaging her bike and leaving her shocked. The driver rolled down the dark window, said “sorry,” and then drove off. If they had hit a vehicle, they would have stopped and insurance information exchanged.
People hear of incidents like ours and say, “See! Biking isn’t safe. You should just drive.” Is this the world we want to live in? Not everyone has a vehicle. Some of us cannot drive.
Do we want to be in our tinted-window carriages, confined to vehicles our whole lives to get around? Because it is not safe to walk or bike? I sure do not. We want roads to be safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Many local governments are making a notable effort to create bike lanes and safer pedestrian walkways. Tinted windows, however, make the roads less safe for all of us.
Is there anyone advocating against tinted windows to make the roads safer? To make sure we have that human connection to communicate from behind and outside of the wheel?
Who do you know that has been in an avoidable accident because they couldn’t see the driver? I wish this wouldn’t be an issue, but with more tinted windows on the road, it is going to get worse.
Cover photo: Tinted Window on a New Chevy Tahoe. Photograph by Owen, February 2025