Tinted or reflectorized windows.
Obstruction of view prohibited.
Exceptions.
Sale or delivery of motor vehicles having tinted or reflectorized
windows prohibited.
Stickers required.
Penalty.
Window tinting businesses.
Regulations.
(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Light transmission" means the ratio of the amount of
total light, expressed in percentages, which is allowed to pass
through a product or material including the glazing to the
amount of total light falling on the product or material and
the glazing.
(2) "Luminous reflectance" means the ratio of the amount
of total light, expressed in percentages, which is reflected
outward by a product or material to the amount of total light
falling on the product or material.
(3) "Manufacturer" means
(A) a person who engages in the manufacturing or assembling of sun
screening products or materials designed to be used in
conjunction with vehicle glazing materials, or
(B) a person who fabricates, laminates or tempers the glazing
material incorporating the capacity to reflect or to reduce
the transmittance of light during the manufacturing process.
(b) No person may operate any motor vehicle which has any object or material
placed, displayed, installed, affixed or applied in or on such vehicle
in a manner so as to obstruct or reduce the operator's clear and full
view of the road through the front windshield or the side or rear windows,
except as provided in subsection (c) of this section. No person may
place, install, affix or apply any transparent material on the front
windshield or the side or rear windows of any motor vehicle if such
material alters the color or reduces the light transmittance of such
windshield or side or rear windows, except as provided in
subsection (c) of this section. Any person required for medical reasons
to be shielded from direct rays of the sun or any person operating
a motor vehicle belonging to such person or in which such person
is a usual passenger shall be exempt from the provisions of this
subsection. Applications for such exemption based upon such medical
reason shall be made in writing to the commissioner and shall be
supported by the written documentation of a physician or optometrist
licensed to practice in this state.
(c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to:
(1) Front side wing vents and windows which are not mirror-like in
appearance and have a substance or material in conjunction with
glazing material that has a total light transmission of not less
than thirty-five per cent plus or minus three per cent and a
luminous reflectance of twenty-seven per cent plus or minus
three per cent;
(2) Rearview mirrors;
(3) Adjustable nontransparent sun visors which are mounted forward
of the side windows and are not attached to the glass;
(4) Signs, stickers or other materials which are displayed in a
seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest
removed from the driver or signs, stickers or other materials
which are displayed in a five-inch square in the lower corner
of the windshield nearest the driver;
(5) The right and left side windows behind the driver and the
rearmost window which shall not be mirror-like in appearance,
having a substance or material in conjunction with glazing
material that has a total light transmission of not less than
thirty-five per cent plus or minus three per cent and a luminous
reflectance of twenty-one per cent to plus or minus three per cent;
(6) The windows behind the driver on any truck, motor bus, trailer,
mobile manufactured home, or multipurpose passenger vehicle, as
defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49,
Section 571.3, as amended from time to time, which is registered
other than as a passenger motor vehicle, provided said vehicle
is equipped with outside mirrors on the left and right-hand sides,
which are so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the
highway for a distance of at least two hundred feet to the rear
of such motor vehicle;
(7) Direction, destination or termination signs upon a passenger
common carrier motor vehicle, provided the signs do not interfere
with the driver's clear view of approaching traffic;
(8) Rear window wiper motors;
(9) Rear trunk lid handle or hinges;
(10) The rearmost window or windows, provided the motor vehicle is
equipped with outside mirrors on the left and right-hand sides
of the vehicle which are so located as to reflect to the driver
a view of the highway for a distance of at least two hundred
feet to the rear of such motor vehicle;
(11) Transparent material which is installed, affixed or applied
to the topmost portion of the windshield, provided:
(A) The bottom edge of the material is at least twenty-nine
inches above the undepressed driver's seat when measured
from a point five inches in front of the bottom of the
backrest with the driver's seat in its rearmost and lowermost
position with the vehicle on a level surface and
(B) the material is not red or amber in color; or
(12) Any sticker or certificate required to be affixed or applied
to any window pursuant to federal or state statute or any municipal
ordinance.
(d) On and after July 1, 1996, no person shall sell, offer for sale or
deliver in the state any motor vehicle having a windshield or any
window which exceeds the standards relative to light transmission
and luminous reflectance specified in this section.
(e) Each motor vehicle manufactured and sold on and after January 1, 1994,
having a window which has been tinted or darkened with any tinted
material after factory delivery shall have affixed to the lower left
corner of each such window a sticker legible from outside the vehicle
which indicates the sticker registration number, a certification of
compliance with the provisions of this section, and such other
information as the commissioner of motor vehicles deems appropriate.
The sticker shall be of a type which is pressure-sensitive,
self-destructive upon removal, and shall not exceed one square inch
in size. Prior to shipping or making any such material available in
this state, for installation in a motor vehicle, the manufacturer
shall apply to the commissioner of motor vehicles for approval and
registration of its tinted material and the sticker which is to be
used in the identification and certification of compliance with the
light transmission and reflectance standards established under this
section. The commissioner shall not approve any tinted material or
sticker unless the manufacturer demonstrates that the material and
sticker comply with the provisions of this section. The manufactured
relative to light transmission and luminous reflectance specified in
this section.
(f) Any person who violates any provision of subsections (b) to (e),
inclusive, of this section shall be deemed to have committed an
infraction for each offense. Any person who violates any provision
of subsection (b) of this section shall remove such object or material
which obstructs his clear and full view of the road and report within
sixty days to the police department which issued the infractions
complaint to present his vehicle for inspection and to demonstrate
compliance with the provisions of this section. If such person
fails to report to such police department and is cited for a subsequent
violation of this section, his vehicle shall be impounded after
notice and opportunity for hearing.
(g) Any person owning a vehicle having a window which has been tinted or
darkened with any tinted material after factory delivery, shall
present such vehicle to the department of motor vehicles, by
July 1, 1996, to receive a sticker for any tinted or darkened window
to indicate such tinting or darkening is in compliance with this
section. Any person operating a motor vehicle, on or after
July 1, 1996, in violation of this subsection shall be deemed to
have committed an infraction.
(h) The provisions of subsections (b) to (g), inclusive, shall not apply
to any motor vehicle in livery service, as defined in section 13b-101.
(i) On or after October 1, 1993, each person, firm or corporation which
engages in the business of tinting windows of motor vehicles or in
the retail sale or installation of tinted material for such windows
shall post conspicuously and at all times display at each service
counter in its establishment a sign which shall
(1) state the permissible standards relative to light transmission
and luminous reflectance specified in this section in block
letters not less than three inches in height,
(2) specify penalties for a violation of this section and
(3) include actual tinted materials as examples.
(j) Each person, firm or corporation which engages in the business of
tinting windows of motor vehicles and which performs such work
from a mobile facility shall provide a written statement to the
purchaser which shall state the permissible standards relative to
light transmission and luminous reflectance specified in this section
and the penalties for a violation of this section.
(k) The commissioner of motor vehicles shall adopt regulations, in
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement the
provisions of this section.