Window Tint Laws in Florida

Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers | Florida Law

Window Tint Laws in Florida

Florida is called the Sunshine State for a reason. As refreshing as the sun can be for some, it can be oppressive at times for those who live there. Tinted film applied to your car’s windows can help keep the vehicle’s interior temperature in check and keep the sun’s oppressive rays off of individuals with sensitive skin, like young children.

Tinting your windows by applying an after-market film to them is permitted under Florida law. There are limitations, though, to what you can legally apply to your windows. Violating these laws means facing a traffic ticket and an order to remove the illegal tint.

How Window Tint Is Measured

When light encounters and passes through a window, a portion of it is intercepted and does not pass from one side of the glass to the other. The amount of light that is transmitted is expressed as a percentage called visible light transmitted (VLT). 

A higher VLT means that more light passes through the window. Conversely, a lower VLT means that more light is blocked by the window and any tint applied to it.

When you get stopped by the police because they believe your window tint is too dark, the officer will use a specialized meter to measure the VLT. It passes a beam of light through the glass to a sensor on the other side that measures the amount of light that has passed through the glass. It then gives a VLT reading.

Window tint may either reduce the amount of transmitted light or simply reflect it. There are different laws applicable to each type of tint or film:

For Darkening Tint

Vehicle owners may not apply any darkening tint to the front windshield below the AS-1 line. This line is visible on most windshields and is located approximately five inches below the top of them.

On passenger cars, front side windows must have a VLT of 28% or greater. This applies to SUVs and vans as well. For rear-side windows on sedans, the VLT must be 15% or greater. On SUVs and vans, the VLT can be as low as 6%.

For Reflective Tint

Film that reflects light is another popular option in Florida. However, reflective tint can also be a distraction that leads to a car accident. As a result, there are limits on the amount of visible light that a film or screen is permitted to reflect.

No reflective tint is allowed to be applied to any part of any vehicle’s windshield. Vehicles may only have a reflective tint that is placed on the front side windows, and it can reflect no more than 25% of light. In addition, all vehicles’ rear-side windows can reflect no more than 35% of light.

Penalties for Violating Florida Window Tint Laws

An officer may not stop you just because they believe your windows are illegally tinted. They are required to have another reason to pull you over before being allowed to cite you for illegal window tint. That said, you may be fined up to $116 for each individual window that is illegally tinted.

There are many valid reasons that you might want to apply a tint or a reflective film to your vehicle’s windows — especially in sunny Florida. Instead of avoiding tint altogether, then, you should aim to avoid an expensive traffic violation by having the VLT or reflectiveness of your windows tested after the film is applied.

Contact the Pinellas County Car Accident Law Firm Of Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers for Help

For more information, please contact the Clearwater and St. Petersburg car accident law firm of Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers at the nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.

We serve in Pinellas County and its surrounding areas:

Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers – Clearwater
1875 N Belcher Rd. STE 201,
Clearwater, FL 33765,
United States
(727) 796-8282

Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers – St. Petersburg
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St. Petersburg, FL 33712,
United States
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