Florida Window Tint Law 28, 15 and 6 Percent

The limits, glass by glass

• Windshield (316.2952): film only along the top strip above the AS-1 line, and it must be transparent.
• Front side windows (316.2953): at least 28 percent of visible light through, no more than 25 percent reflected.
• Rear side windows and back glass on a car (316.2954): at least 15 percent through, no more than 35 percent reflected.
• The same glass on a multipurpose passenger vehicle (316.2954): at least 6 percent through, no more than 35 percent reflected.

Section 316.2955 gives every one of those percentages a tolerance of plus or minus 3. A front door reading 26 on a roadside meter in Bradenton is inside the law; a reading of 24 is not.

Car or multipurpose vehicle

The 6 percent figure is the one people misapply. Section 316.2951 defines a multipurpose passenger vehicle as one designed to carry 10 persons or fewer that is built on a truck chassis or has special features for occasional off-road use. Many SUVs and vans qualify; sedans and coupes do not. The federal certification sticker on the driver's door frame states the vehicle type, and "MPV" there settles it.

Factory glass plus film

Section 316.2957 exempts glazing a manufacturer installs when it meets federal standard FMVSS 205, which is why the dark rear glass on a new SUV off a Manatee County lot needs no label. Film added on top is different. The statutes test sunscreening as applied to that vehicle's glass, so a 20 percent film laid over factory privacy glass reads far darker than 20 percent on the meter. On the front doors, which usually leave the factory close to clear, it is why the number on the box and the number on the meter are not the same.

What the windshield can carry

Section 316.2952 bars anything on the windshield except a short list: paperwork required by law, transparent sunscreening along the top strip that stays out of the driver's direct forward view (the AS-1 portion marked on the glass), a toll-payment device such as a SunPass transponder, and a GPS or similar satellite receiver.

Options behind the driver

The rear section of the statute covers more than film:

• Perforated material must transmit at least 30 percent of light and reflect no more than 35 percent.
• Louvers may cut the driver's view by no more than half, and curtains or blinds must be open and secured while driving.
• A blacked-out back window requires outside mirrors on both sides of the vehicle.

How a stop or a sale plays out

The state approves the light meters used to test glass, and a reading from an approved device is presumed accurate and can be used as evidence. For the driver, film installed after 20 June 1984 that fails the limits is a noncriminal nonmoving infraction under 316.2956; replacing or repairing material that was legal when installed is not a violation. For whoever sold or installed the film, the same section makes it a second-degree misdemeanor. Every installation must also carry a pressure-sensitive label that destroys itself if peeled, fixed inside the left door jamb, naming the film's trade name and the installer's business and stating that the material complies.

The medical exemption, step by step

Section 316.29545 lets the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles exempt a vehicle for a rider with lupus, another autoimmune disease, or a condition requiring limited light exposure. Form HSMV 83390 (revision 07/25) lists lupus with a positive ANA titer, dermatomyositis, albinism, total or facial vitiligo and xeroderma pigmentosum, plus an "other" box that needs a written diagnosis.

• Who signs: a physician or dermatologist licensed in Florida, a physician at a military facility, state hospital or federal prison, a physician assistant, or an advanced practice registered nurse working under a physician's protocol.
• What goes with it: a copy of a current driver license or ID card, and $6.50 per vehicle.
• Where it goes: the application is mailed to the department in Tallahassee rather than handled at a Manatee County tag office counter; FLHSMV's procedure RS-48 says the department processes all sunscreening requests.
• What you get: a certificate in the registered owner's name, kept in the glove compartment. The patient need not be on the title.
• How long it lasts: it has no expiration date, but it cannot be transferred and becomes void once the car is sold.

The registered owner must also remove the exempt film before selling the car, worth remembering before a trade-in on US-41.

Where to go from here

Film at a legal shade for a full vehicle is car window tinting, and heat-rejecting film that stays light enough for the front doors is ceramic window tint. Homes are not covered by these statutes at all; see residential window tinting. The pricing page lists what installers around Bradenton post per vehicle.