(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, 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 manufacturer shall include with each delivery of tinted material in this state for installation in a motor vehicle a sticker, approved by the commissioner, with written instructions indicating the proper location for placement of such sticker. The presence of such sticker upon the window of a motor vehicle indicates that the person who affixed the sticker certifies that the window conforms to the standards 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, of this section 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.

(P.A. 84-277; P.A. 90-210, S. 1; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-9, S. 3, 4; P.A. 93-135, S. 1, 2; P.A. 96-167, S. 31; P.A. 07-217, S. 50.)

History: P.A. 90-210 added Subsecs. (d) to (i), inclusive, re tinted glass; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-9 amended Subsec. (g) to postpone implementation of sticker requirement from July 1, 1992, to July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-135 amended Subsec. (c)(1) and (5) to modify the exceptions relative to light transmittance, added new Subdiv. (6) and renumbered remaining Subdivs., extended the cutoff dates in Subsec. (d) from July 1, 1992, to July 1, 1996, in Subsec. (e) from January 1, 1991, to January 1, 1994, in Subsec. (g) from July 1, 1993, to July 1, 1996, and inserted new Subsecs. (i) and (j) re notice to consumers of standards re light transmission and reflectance and relettering former Subsec. (i) as (k), effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 96-167 amended Subsec. (c)(6) to delete reference to vehicles “registered other than as a passenger motor vehicle”; P.A. 07-217 made a technical change, effective July 12, 2007.

See Sec. 14-99f re windshield and view requirements.

See Sec. 14-100 re safety glass requirement.

Cited. 40 CA 495.