Window Tinters Were in Dark About Threat to Their Industry : Courts: Many of the 120 such businesses in county hadn’t heard of unsuccessful federal bid to ban the film.

Though many were oblivious to the dark cloud hanging over them, about 120 window-tinting companies in Orange County have been saved from stormy weather by a U.S. district judge.

Last year, the Justice Department sued five automobile window-tinting shops in Florida for allegedly violating federal safety standards. If the government had succeeded in its attempt to obtain a court ban on the installation of all window film, local glass-tinting businesses could have been shattered.

But U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp last week rejected the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s accusations that the shops sold film so dark that it obstructed a driver’s vision.

Many owners of window-tinting businesses in Orange County were unaware that their livelihoods had been at risk. “This is the first I’ve heard of it,” said Mark Cilani, owner of California Glass Tinting Co. in Garden Grove.

However, other proprietors kept a close eye on a traffic regulators’ campaign to abolish tinted glass--long criticized by law enforcement agencies as a road hazard.

“We’ve been waiting for the ruling with bated breath,” said Mike Rogers, co-owner of Best Window Tinting Inc. in Irvine, which also provides sun-reduction film for residential and commercial buildings. “Had it not gone in our favor, we would have been dramatically affected.”

California accounts for about one-fourth of the industry’s business, according to Jeff Juniper, western regional manager of Virginia-based Martin Energy Products, the largest manufacturer of window film in the United States.

“Tinting helps protect both the upholstery and the passengers from the effects of the sun,” Juniper said.

California state code forbids all add-on tinting on the windshield and front passenger windows, said Juan Alfaro, a California Highway Patrol officer in Santa Ana. Rear and back passenger windows can be tinted provided the vehicle has a side-view mirror on the front passenger door.

Law enforcement officers complain that darkly tinted windows--coated with film that blocks more than 30% of outside light--can put them in danger when pulling over vehicles. “You walk up to a car that has those blackened windows and you cannot see anything, even shining a flashlight inside it,” Alfaro said.

Furthermore, tinted windows decrease driver visibility, officers claim. “Our concern is primarily for driver safety,” said Sam Haynes, a CHP spokesman in Sacramento.

The Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to appeal the recent Florida ruling, said spokesman Tim Hurd. But for now, window tinters can breathe a sigh of relief--that is, if they realized they were under attack in the first place.

“I can understand police officers’ point of view,” Rogers said. “I hope we can reach a happy medium rather than just do away with tinting altogether.”