Window tinting is increasingly becoming a thing with people seeking to be more and more private, place a special touch to their car looks etc. On the other hand, regulators have been cognizant of this fact for some time actually. The Alabama window tinting law is thus in fact, a 1996 regulation.
Importantly, the regulation seeks to balance what one wishes to do with their car vis-à-vis the interests of the general public at what point some restrictions have been placed on what owners can and cannot do.
The law hence covers window tint reflection, window tint darkness, and exemptions thereto for the most part. That said, Alabama has a relatively open ended law so you should not worry yourself much about the restrictions.
That said, it is still important to know the exact limitations on you so you can operate in that bracket. I have also taken the approach of writing the otherwise complicated clauses of the regulations in simple language that everyone out there appreciates so no, do here about laws and fear that you needed to have gone to Law School in order to understand the contents of this article. I hope you find it useful.
Window Tint Darkness Regulations in Alabama
To understand how window tint darkness law works, then you need to appreciate the term Visible Light Transmission also VLT and as the name suggests, VLT is the amount of light that a window of a car allows in.
VLT is measured in percentage terms and the higher the number stated in a law, the more amount of light that will be expected to enter a car. A 95% requirement thus will mean that the affected car almost has no tinting at all whereas 5% would be the darkest it could ever get. Alabama’s law goes to neither of these extremes but I hope the example makes sense.
From VLT, we examine the car types. Again, because of the different purposes that cars are often employed for as well as their structures among other factors, a compromise on amounts of light to be allowed in one car may be disastrous if extended to another.
Indeed, while certain legislatures tend not to create distinctions on this account, Alabama did take write its law with the said consideration in mind. Examples of the differences in car include sedans, SUVs, tracks, vans etc. We will talk more about how the differences play out soon.
Lastly, window tint darkness rotates on the positioning of the window in question. Whilst windows may be on the same vehicle, it is important to realize that where they occupy makes a difference.
For one thing, you do not want to entirely block all light from coming by your windshield unless you have bought the car to simply serve as a toy.
Even if you some how were able to drive it though, you can be sure that Alabama will not allow you to.
The windshield is the screen that occupies the front part of the vehicle i.e. it is the one that the driver looks through whilst driving. The other windows are the front and backsides which occupy the sides of the car as their names suggest and then the rear window which will be inserted at the back, just above the bumper.
Now that you have appreciated the full context of this part of window tinting law, let us get into the specific provisions of the law;
- Sedans
- Windshield. Tint is only allowed on the top six inches.
- Front side windows. The Visible Light Transmission must be 32% or more.
- Backside windows. The Visible Light Transmission must be 32% or more.
- Rear window. The Visible Light Transmission must be 32% or more.
- SUVs
- Windshield. Tint is only allowed on the top six inches.
- Front side windows. The Visible Light Transmission must be 32% or more.
- Back side windows. The tint used can be as dark as you wish it.
- Rear window. The tint used can be as dark as you wish it.
Window Tint Reflection Regulations in Alabama
Intuitively, when people think about what tinting does, what comes to mind is tint darkness. If you look closely though, tint reflection just does the same functions as tint darkness and in fact better for some people.
While it keeps sunrays out for instance, the same does not have to mean that the inside of your car gets dark. Importantly, one still enjoys privacy, a cool environment inside and a host more benefits.
Probably the only downside here, would be that as the case is with Alabama, window tint reflection is for the most part usually more stringently regulated than window tint darkness.
This makes sense though as the former tinting affects not the person who adopted it when things go wrong but a third party i.e. when rays of light reflect towards them at a degree they cannot cope with.
Window tint reflection is calculated in terms of the amount of light that would have ordinarily entered the car should there have been no tinting used at all. A percentage of the same is then legislated as the maximum that is to be allowed to reflect for those that intend to use the tint in question.
Like with window tint darkness, different percentages may accrue dependent on several factors from time to time. These include the window of the car in question and the type of the car.
For Alabama, only the windows make a difference as we will see. Regardless of the car you are driving then, the figures that I will shortly share below apply to you. Here we go;
- Front side windows: Reflection cannot exceed 20% of the light that would have ideally entered the car should it have had no tinting whatsoever.
- Back side windows: Reflection cannot exceed 20% of the light that would have ideally entered the car should it have had no tinting whatsoever.
Other Window Tint Regulations in Alabama
Having explored window tint darkness and window tint reflection, we can now look at several more provisions in the state’s regulations which though not major, are still important for one who intends to tint their car or another who has already done so but wants to be sure that they are not doing anything illegal.
- Colors. Alabama has no restrictions whatsoever on the tint that one chooses to place on their car windows. The key thing is that the shade is applied to a degree that does not violate the VLT figures as well as those under window reflection.
Also is important is for the application process not to blur, break, or clog the window where the tint is placed. Police will not put up with anything that inhibits clarity of the driver’s vision later on distort things for other users.
- Certification. The law requires that manufacturers issue buyers certificates indicating that they bought the tint film from them. Be sure to ask for the certificate as your car gets dressed. This step is crucial for accountability purposes.
- Penalties. Following window tint regulations is a serious matter and so, there are real consequences to be faced by those who decide that they won’t. There are two ways of facing punishment in this case i.e. fines as well as going to jail.
How much money one pays or the number of days they spend in prison is incumbent on whether they are first time offenders not. At first, one faces a fine of $100 or 10 days in prison, then $200 or 30 days for a second time offender, and $300 or three months behind for one committing the crime for the third time.
- General exceptions. The law discussed thus far pertains to provisions of a general nature. There are cases however, when room for different allowances. Here are some from those that matter;
- It is alright to place sun visors by the side windows provided they are not permanently attached. Transparent items may equally by attached to the windshield. The said attachments are only to be placed within the top six inches of such screen.
- Windows tinted during manufacturing are excused too. This is the case because car constructors are usually already aware of the general tinting standard and so they are not likely to deviate from it.
- Passenger vehicles may carry labels about the destinations where they carry people to and directions provided these do not interfere with the driver’s ability to do their job.
This is in service of efficiency i.e. identifiers help passengers to easily tell which car they should board.
- Stickers required by law. The way laws work is they are to be read together with other laws. As a result, there will be stickers attached to cars in Alabama in compliance with other laws of the state or even federal law. In these circumstances, tint regulations will allow drivers act in ways which on the face of it would not be permitted by them.
- Medical exceptions. Alabama allows too for people with medical challenges to use a darker shade of tint or one that is more reflective. Some of the conditions that fall in this category are albinism and porphyria.
In order to benefit under the medical bracket, one has to apply to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) attaching a letter from a physician testifying to their condition.
Upon approval, ALEA will issue them a decal is to be attached on the car. A small fee is also usually paid. Its purpose is logistics.
- More on medical exceptions. It is important to recognize that the enforcement of the provisions in this regard do not merely rotate around the sick individuals. The stickers given out by ALEA are to be attached to either the vehicle of the person in question or that of another person that the ill individual frequently uses. It could also be both.
The rationale here is that not all persons that need extra protection from light have vehicles of their own or use them frequently even if they do. The cars that ALEA will issue decals thus is determined by how convincing the details of your application are.
It is not enough that you acquire the stickers though, you will need to go another step and attach them on your car. This is crucial because they bare on them identifying numbers which the officers on ground will rely on to ascertain that they are valid.
Keeping the stickers away is likely to make things complicated for you since it will not be immediately clear to law enforcement that your claims are valid once they have pulled you over. The whole sticker thing should not be complicated though now that once attached on the car that is it.
- Police officers exception. In 2021, Alabama took a new turn regarding tinting law which one waits to see whether it will set yet a new trend with other states in the country.
Led by Rep. Connie Rowe, the state’s legislature voted to excuse private cars owned by law enforcement officers from the general tinting regulations as discussed above. From there, Governor Kay Ivey went on to sign the then HB332 bill into law.
This step was taken with the objective of harnessing one of the strengths tinting vehicles i.e. privacy in order to protect a group that law makers believed was particularly vulnerable to disarray.
This is because, it was believed that as enforcers of law, police officers were always placed in scenarios where the persons with whom they were engaged would have the emotions stirred the wrong way whilst on duty.
This then raised the possibility of these individuals acting awkwardly or even violently if they met the officers elsewhere in their non-official capacities.
The position taken by Alabama here is in tandem with the fact that many people already enjoy related privileges on the road. Take an example of political leaders and then celebrities.
Others
This section is not about laws per se but practical aspects of window tinting that should will find yourself needing to know;
- Do it yourself. Before I share about how you can work on the tinting yourself, I should stress that if you can, the first option should be letting a professional do the job. It is a little more costly but still worth it. You should at least have seen someone do it before if you are going to trust your hands.
Anyways, all you need to aid you is getting right the contents of the DIY kit which you are meant to use.
- Thermal control. This is the process through which tint keeps the inside of your car cool by making it impossible for the UV rays to penetrate through the windows. This means that even if you are parked in a place exposed to the sun on a hot day, the interior of your car remains relatively cool.
In short, the atmosphere in your car does not have to depend on the environment outside.
Alabama state info
Alabama is one of the fifty states in the United States. It has a political establishment of its own with the governor being the executive head. This is so per US’ federal system of government.
It is located in South Eastern United States and one of the things that the state is known for is the ambient nature. At 21,000 km for example, the AL has one of the highest figures for total navigable water. You want to pay a visit thus should you want to do some boat rowing.
As regards to the usual numbers that most people look out for however, Alabama is often in the middle. There are approximately 5,000,000 people and 135,000 km sq of land for instance, making it the 23rd most populous and 30th biggest state in the country.
The capital of Alabama is Montgomery. There are many more states though. They include; Oxford, Hoover, Fairhope, Dora, Decatur, Oxford, Anniston, Tuskegee, Florence, Troy, Phoenix City, and Birmingham.