New Jersey’s window tint laws ban aftermarket tint on the windshield and front side windows of every passenger vehicle, allow any darkness on rear and rear side windows, and prohibit mirrored film on any glass. The rules live in N.J.S.A. 39:3-74, N.J.S.A. 39:3-75, and the inspection standards at N.J.A.C. 13:20-33.7, and the Motor Vehicle Commission enforces them.
What’s Legal on Each Window
No aftermarket tint film is allowed on the windshield or on the front side windows next to the driver and front passenger. This applies to sedans, SUVs, and pickups alike.1Justia. New Jersey Code 39-3-74 – Windshields Must Be Unobstructed and Equipped With Cleaners It’s one of the strictest front-glass rules in the country; most states allow at least some light tint there.
The windshield has one narrow exception. Tint film is permitted on the top six inches of the windshield, or down to the manufacturer’s AS-1 marking, whichever is lower. That’s the visor strip that cuts glare without blocking the driver’s forward view.2Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13-20-33.7 – Commercial Vehicle Inspection Factory tint that sits inside that strip is fine.
Behind the driver, the rules loosen considerably. Any motor vehicle may have its rear window and rear side windows tinted enough to partially reduce visibility through the glass, and the regulation sets no specific visible light transmission percentage.2Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13-20-33.7 – Commercial Vehicle Inspection Sedans and coupes can go quite dark on the back half of the car without hitting a numerical limit.
Trucks built on a truck chassis, including noncommercial pickups, get even more latitude. Their rear and rear side windows can be painted, tinted, or built in a way that completely blocks the driver’s rearward view, provided the vehicle has an exterior side mirror on each side.2Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13-20-33.7 – Commercial Vehicle Inspection That’s why work trucks and some SUVs run with fully blacked-out rear glass and pass without issue.
One rule applies to every window on every vehicle: mirror-type material is prohibited.2Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13-20-33.7 – Commercial Vehicle Inspection Any film that gives the glass a chrome-like, highly reflective finish will fail. A standard dark tint on rear glass is fine; a mirrored finish is not. New Jersey does not list banned tint colors by statute, but the general requirement that glazing not cause unsafe distortion of visibility lets officers cite tint that alters how a driver perceives signals or traffic.3FindLaw. New Jersey Code 39-3-75 – Safety Glazing Material
The Medical Exemption for Front Tint
The only legal path to tinted front windows or a tinted windshield is a medical exemption from the MVC. The statute lists qualifying conditions including polymorphous light eruption, persistent light reactivity, actinic reticuloid, porphyrins, solar urticaria, and lupus erythematosus, and the MVC director can approve other photosensitive disorders on a case-by-case basis.4Justia. New Jersey Code 39-3-75.1 – Certain Tinting Materials on Windshields, Windows of Motor Vehicles, Permitted for Medical Reasons
You apply using Form MR-15, “Request for Medical Exemption to Apply Vehicle Sun-Screening.”5New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission – Request for Medical Exemption to Apply Vehicle Sun-Screening The form requires the make, model, and VIN of the specific vehicle, and a doctor completes the medical certification. The certifying provider must be a certified ophthalmologist or a physician holding a plenary license to practice medicine and surgery in New Jersey or a bordering state. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners do not qualify. For dermatological conditions, the physician must also submit photo-testing results showing the wavelengths that trigger a reaction so the MVC can determine what tint to authorize.6Cornell Law Institute. New Jersey Administrative Code 13-20-1.5 – Medical Exemption Certificate Application Procedure, Application Contents
Send the completed application and prescription to the MVC Customer Advocacy Office in Trenton or email it to Sunscreening@mvc.nj.gov.7New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Application for Sunscreening Do not install the film first. The MVC must review and approve the application before installation, and tint applied in advance of the certificate is treated as illegal tint even when the underlying condition is real.8New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Window Sun-screening For Medical Reasons
An approved exemption lasts 48 months, after which you reapply with a fresh physician certification.7New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Application for Sunscreening The certificate specifies the authorized tint material and which windows it covers; keep it in the vehicle, because producing it is the only way to show an officer the tint is legal. The exemption is tied to both you and that specific car, so the film must be removed before you sell or transfer the vehicle.5New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission – Request for Medical Exemption to Apply Vehicle Sun-Screening
Inspections Don’t Check Tint, but Traffic Stops Do
New Jersey’s current vehicle inspection program does not check window tint. Inspections cover emissions, on-board diagnostics, and basic safety equipment, so you will not fail inspection because of dark front windows. That is not permission; it just means the inspection lane is not where enforcement happens. Traffic stops are.
Assembly No. 4673, introduced in the 2026 legislative session, would add tint compliance to the standard inspection checklist for passenger cars and noncommercial trucks, which would mean no certificate of approval for a vehicle with illegal front tint.9New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Assembly Bill 4233 The bill has not been signed into law as of early 2026.
Penalties and Collateral Consequences
Illegal tint on the windshield or front side windows violates N.J.S.A. 39:3-74.1Justia. New Jersey Code 39-3-74 – Windshields Must Be Unobstructed and Equipped With Cleaners First-offense fines are generally modest and increase with repeat violations. Officers often issue a fix-it directive requiring removal within a set timeframe; being stopped again without complying escalates things.
The ticket is not always the end of it. If you are in a collision with illegally tinted front glass, the tint becomes part of the investigation, and an insurer looking for reasons to reduce or deny a claim will note that the vehicle was out of compliance at the time of the crash. Whether that actually affects a claim depends on the specifics, but it is an avoidable risk sitting on top of the fine. Visible tint violations also give police a straightforward reason to initiate a stop, which opens the door to scrutiny of registration, insurance, and anything else about the vehicle.