The Tint on Your Windows
ORC 4513.241 — the statute has no number, the rule under it has three
Tint is one of the most common reasons a car is stopped, and the statute that governs it contains no percentage at all. It tells the director of public safety to adopt rules, and the rules are where the numbers live. That matters, because a person arguing about a tint ticket is arguing about an administrative rule and not about the section printed on the citation.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
| The glass | What the rule allows |
|---|---|
| The glassWindshield, below the strip | What the rule allowsMaterial only where the combined window still transmits not less than seventy percent of light, plus or minus three |
| The glassWindshield, the top strip | What the rule allowsNot regulated where it does not extend below the AS-1 line or five inches from the top, whichever is closer to the top |
| The glassFront side windows | What the rule allowsNot less than fifty percent light transmittance, plus or minus three |
| The glassRear side windows and back glass | What the rule allowsNot governed by a percentage in the rule |
| The glassAny window | What the rule allowsNot red or yellow in color |
Plus or minus three is in the rule, not in an officer's discretion. The percentages carry a tolerance of three points either way. A front side window measuring forty eight percent is inside the rule; the tolerance is what makes a meter reading arguable rather than final, and it is written into the rule rather than left to the roadside.
The strip at the top of the windshield has two ceilings and the lower one wins. Material along the top of the windshield is outside the rule where it stops at the AS-1 line or at five inches from the top, whichever is closer to the top. The AS-1 line is a mark the glass manufacturer prints on the edge of the windshield; where it sits lower than five inches, five inches is the limit, and where it sits higher, the line is.
The statute itself prohibits operating a motor vehicle with tinted glass or other materials that do not conform to the director's rules, and it is the section a citation is written under. A violation is a minor misdemeanor under the chapter's general penalty section.
A stop for a tint that turns out to be within the rule is a stop for a violation that did not exist, and that is a different argument from one about the officer's motive. Motive does not defeat a real violation; a real violation is still required.
Medical exemptions, the rules for vehicles other than passenger cars, factory glass that is tinted in manufacture, and how a particular meter was calibrated are not on this page. The Ohio Administrative Code rule is the document to read alongside a citation, and whether a particular reading supports a particular ticket is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (4)
- ORC 4513.241 — Tinted glass and other vision obscuring materials
- OAC 4501-41-03 — Administrative rule carrying the light transmittance figures the tint statute delegates
- ORC 4513.99 — Penalties for the equipment chapter
- Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) — A traffic stop is reasonable when there is probable cause of a traffic violation
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.