Maryland Window Tint Law: 35 Percent, and a Repair Order That Can Suspend Your Plates
Maryland requires at least 35 percent light transmission through any window added after manufacture, and the rule you are actually subject to depends on how your vehicle is registered rather than what it looks like. Section 22-406 of the Transportation Article is keyed to registration classes. A Class A passenger car has to hold 35 percent on every side and rear window. A Class M multipurpose, Class E truck or Class B for-hire vehicle only has to hold 35 percent on the two windows immediately right and left of the driver, and anything behind the driver may be tinted to any degree of darkness.
That distinction catches people out, because two vehicles that look identical in a parking lot can sit under different rules depending on the class they were registered in.
Colors and mirrored film are banned, and the ban is not in the statute
Anyone reading only section 22-406 will miss half the rules. The prohibitions on red, yellow and amber film, on film that changes to those colors, and on any tint with a mirrored, one-way or sparkling effect all live in the implementing regulation, COMAR 11.14.02.14, and in State Police guidance. Maryland sets no numeric reflectivity ceiling at all; reflective film is simply not allowed. The same regulation adds a detail installers should know: a film manufacturer label may not be sized or positioned so as to affect the driver vision or obscure the glazing manufacturer trademark or the AS indicator.
On the windshield, no tint may be added below the AS-1 line or below five inches from the top, whichever is less. Note the wording. Whichever is less, not whichever is longer, which is the opposite of how several neighboring states phrase the same idea.
| Glass | Class A passenger car | Class M, E or B registration |
|---|---|---|
| Front side windows | 35 percent minimum | 35 percent minimum |
| Rear side windows | 35 percent minimum | Any darkness |
| Rear window | 35 percent minimum | Any darkness |
| Windshield | Nothing below the AS-1 line or 5 inches from the top, whichever is less | Same |
| Colors and finishes | No red, yellow, amber, mirrored, one-way or sparkling film | Same |
The fine is not the point. The repair order is
A Maryland Vehicle Law violation is a misdemeanor by default with a maximum fine of five hundred dollars, and section 22-406 does not appear in the District Court preset fine schedule. But the fine is rarely what motivates removal. When an officer sees illegal film, the statute lets them issue a Safety Equipment Repair Order alongside the citation. State Police guidance gives ten days to fix the problem, and failing to return the certified repair form within thirty days suspends the vehicle registration. Correction has to be verified by a registered inspection mechanic at an authorized Maryland inspection station.
In practice Maryland is a remove-it-or-lose-your-plates state, and that is a much sharper lever than a payable ticket. Tint is an equipment violation rather than a moving violation, so it does not appear in the point schedule.
One inspection, at the very beginning
Maryland has no annual safety inspection. A safety inspection is required when a vehicle is first titled in the state, which in practice means used vehicle sales and cars arriving from elsewhere, and the resulting certificate is valid for ninety days. Tint is an inspection item at that point: the inspector checks transmission on regulated windows against the 35 percent floor, plus color, mirroring, the windshield line and label placement. Emissions testing runs every two years and does not look at glass. After that first inspection, enforcement is roadside only.
Neither the statute nor the regulation states a measurement tolerance, which is a meaningful difference from Virginia next door, where the code hands the driver seven percentage points.
Exemptions come from the State Police, not the MVA
This is the single most commonly misreported fact about Maryland tint law. Medical exemptions are administered by the State Police Automotive Safety Enforcement Division in Glen Burnie, on a physician certification form issued by that division. Not the MVA. A certification is valid for whatever period the physician determines the owner needs, up to two years, and since a 2025 amendment it may be valid indefinitely where the physician determines the condition is permanent. A copy has to stay in the vehicle at all times for review by a police officer. The exemption covers additional tint on front side windows, rear side windows, the rear window and above the AS-1 line on the windshield.
Two 2026 bills, House Bill 1507 and Senate Bill 913, would have let out-of-state physicians certify and would have removed the time limit outright. Both received hearings in March 2026 and neither passed either chamber, so the current framework stands. The State Police filed a letter of information opposing the out-of-state certification change.
One narrow allowance worth knowing: the statute does not reach tinting materials affixed so as to be easily removed and used to shade a child under ten from the sun. Comparing the region? Delaware prohibits front film outright and Pennsylvania works from 70 percent, and the side by side tables cover every state and province.
References
Verified July 2026 against Md. Code, Transportation 22-406 as amended by 2025 Md. Laws ch. 452, and against COMAR 11.14.02.14. No preset fine for section 22-406 appears in the District Court schedule, so no figure is quoted here.