Window tint laws in Maryland (2026)

The rules, window by window

Windshield

Post-manufacture tinting material may not be applied below the AS1 line or below 5 inches from the top of the windshield.

The standard in the law's own words

The core statutory prohibition is framed around tinting materials added after manufacture that fail to allow the specified minimum light transmittance through the window, rather than a separate purely qualitative visibility test.

Reflectivity

COMAR 11.14.02.14 directs vehicle inspectors to reject tint that has a mirrored, one-way-vision, or sparkling effect.

Color restrictions

COMAR 11.14.02.14 prohibits post-manufacture window tint that is red, yellow, or amber in color, or that changes to a red, yellow, or amber color.

Medical exemption

A person who must be protected from the sun for medical reasons is exempt from the 35 percent light-transmittance requirement if the vehicle owner has a written certification, in the manner and format required by the Automotive Safety Enforcement Division of the Department of State Police, from a physician licensed to practice medicine in Maryland. The certification is valid for the period the physician determines is needed, up to 2 years, unless the physician determines the condition is permanent, in which case it does not expire.

Enforcement

Transportation Article 22-406 also permits removable tinting material used to protect a child under 10 years of age from the sun, provided it is affixed so it can be easily removed. COMAR 11.14.02.14 sets out different application standards by vehicle type at inspection, including that limousines may not have tinted windshields or front driver-side windows and that school vehicles may not have any window tinting.

Notes

The 35 percent minimum light-transmittance floor applies to any window on vehicles registered as passenger cars, convertibles, and station wagons under Transportation Article 13-912, which is the passenger-car case captured in the numeric fields here. For vehicles registered under 13-913, 13-917, and 13-937 (for-hire vehicles, trucks, and multipurpose vehicles/SUVs and vans), the 35 percent floor applies only to the windows immediately to the right and left of the driver; rear side windows and the rear window on those vehicle classes may be tinted to any darkness with no numeric floor. The color and reflectivity/mirrored-finish bans were not found in the text of Transportation Article 22-406 itself in this pass; they are set out in the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 11.14.02.14, an administrative code section on the state's official regs.maryland.gov portal, which is cited here as an additional primary source alongside the statute.