Tinted car windows for security, protection

I am taking time out from my very heavy schedule as a physician/surgeon to state my piece on tinted car windows, and I am speaking from my own personal experiences.

My profession obliges me to be on my toes every single moment, and traveling from home to hospital, then from one hospital to the next, inevitably keeps me on wheels quite often, save in those times where my lawyer-husband, who is equally busy, could accompany and drive for me.

When my car used to have light transparent tint, I was preyed several times by criminal elements. At one instance, my side mirrors were forcibly removed, leaving me helpless. In another incident, a man, pretending he had been hit by me demanded that I attend to him, but the driver of the car behind me who witnessed everything assisted me and reprimanded the alleged victim for extorting from me.

The worst incident was when I took the wheel while my husband was slouched on the passenger side as he was not feeling well that time. Thinking that I was all alone, a car with four burly men tried to bump my side for about two times to make me stop. With my husband being alerted to my abrupt maneuverings as I tried to avoid the car trying to bump me, he pulled out his gun and showed it to the four men who sped away.

Since then, I had my cars installed with heavy tint that shields me from public view, which really wards and protects me from would-be attackers.

I speak not only for myself and the very many women drivers, but also for people like my husband-lawyer who, on account of their work, are constantly exposed to peril.

I respectfully suggest that the prohibition on heavy tint be applied only to public utility vehicles where, conversely, the tint may hide the commission of a crime.

MA. JOSEFINA T. PAGUIRIGAN-KAYABAN, MD, Mary Chiles General Hospital, 667 Dalupan St., Sampaloc, Manila