Window tint laws in Maine (2026)

The rules, window by window

Windshield

Sun-screening or window-tinting material is permitted above the AS-1 line in the top portion of the windshield or, if there is no AS-1 line, along a 5-inch strip at the top; below that, the front windshield may not be composed of, covered by, or treated with material that reduces light transmittance below that of the original installation or an original replacement window.

The standard in the law's own words

Front windshields, front door windows, and rear passenger seat windows are separately required to consist of 2-way glass providing occupants a clear view of the road and a person outside the vehicle a clear view of the occupants, apart from the numeric transmittance floor.

Reflectivity

A window may not be composed of, covered by, or treated with any material that is reflective.

Medical exemption

A vehicle may be exempted where the Chief of the State Police determines that the health of the owner or a person who usually occupies the vehicle is adversely affected by sunlight. The Chief may issue a certificate of exemption that must be displayed upon request of a law enforcement officer.

Enforcement

The statute contemplates a light-transmittance certificate requirement for tinted windows and establishes a presumption of non-compliance if the certificate is not produced on request. Listed violations (installation, certification, or alteration violations) carry a forfeiture of not less than $100. The Chief of the State Police has rulemaking authority under the section.

Notes

The 35 percent net (glass plus material combined) light-transmittance floor applies to side and rear windows, but the statute exempts side windows behind the operator's seat and the rear window from this restriction entirely if the vehicle is equipped with dual outside mirrors, which in practice removes any numeric floor for those windows on most vehicles; that is why rearSideVltMinPct and rearWindowVltMinPct are set to null with noRestriction true for those zones, while frontSideVltMinPct (35 percent, net of glass and material) remains a hard floor with no equivalent exemption identified in the section as reviewed. No color-specific ban (e.g., red/amber) was identified in the text of 29-A MRSA section 1916 in this pass, so colorRestrictions is left null rather than guessed.