Sun visor legality

[David Hammond]

Not done one myself, but if I remember correctly you need to keep the area the windscreen wipers clean clear of any stickers Etc.

Think its an MOT failure… but could have misunderstood something.

[Thomas Pitt]

Thanks David, I just rang the guy who MOT’s my car and he said the same thing.

[Daniel Warren]

As david says, the wipers need to sweep clear of the strip. A job where off cuts are worth keeping eh 😎

I actually went to buy a strip last week in Halfords as the pink ones were reduced to £1 and I wanted some pink vinyl, but not a rolls worth.

While I was reserving it online, I noticed a comment from a woman along the lines of ‘Rubbish, is too deep and my wipers rub over it’ :lol1: :lol1:

I presume she wanted her moneys worth and fitted it as deep as she could get away with to meet the top corners of the curved screen! 🙄

[Thomas Pitt]

How did it look on your car? 😉

[Stuart Miller]

It seems sun visors are a grey area depending on the MOT testing station.
Opaque Vinyl strips fall fowl of the obstructing windscreen regulations if as others have said they come into the area of the wipers.
However, there is an exclusion which says tinting films are NOT classed as a reason for Rejection under these criteria.
However, tinting films on a windscreen must allow 75% light transmission.
Therefore it is not clear if a tinting film of say 20% light transmission are either allowed under the rejection exclusion or not allowed under the Light transmission law. Nowhere does it actually state what is classed as an Opaque film and what is a permissible film.
I personally fit sunstrips with 20% VLT film and so far all have passed the MOT that I know of and I point people to the MOT Exclusion for Window films in the legislation.
which is here
transportoffice.gov.uk
under Section 8.3 of the full download for class 3,4,5 & 7 vehicles.

[Martin Pearson]

Not sure if Scottish law is different but up here as well as the wipers having to clear the strip the maximum depth of the sunstrip in the centre is 100mm.
Think this is to stop people putting smaller wipers on the car so they don’t sweep as much of the screen.
Police up here don’t like them at all & I have known loads of people have them ripped off at the roadside. Most of the vehicles you see up here now just have text across the screen without the solid colour background as it seems you get away with that. Still needs to be clear of the wiper sweep.

[Thomas Pitt]

Thank you for your advice guys, I will pass the info onto the customer.

[David Rowland]

Police advised someone I know about the tinting percentages but then said about if the insurance will pay out on a car with a non standard factory modification