Rule 4501-41-03 | Specifications.
(A) No person shall operate, on any highway or other public or private property open to the public for vehicular travel or parking, lease, or rent any motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this state with any sunscreening material, or other product or material which has the effect of making the windshield or windows nontransparent or would alter the windows' color, increase its reflectivity, or reduce its light transmittance, unless the product or material satisfies one of the following exceptions:
(1) Any manufacturer's tinting or glazing of motor vehicle windows or windshields that is otherwise in compliance with or permitted by "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 205" (FMVSS 205) in effect at the time of the manufacture of the motor vehicle until such standard is subsequently repealed or reduced. In "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 205," (FMVSS 205) "manufacturer" means any person engaged in the manufacturing or assembling of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment, including any person importing motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment for resale. "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 205" (FMVSS), Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Part 571, can be obtained online at web site http://www.gpo.gov.
(2) . Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied to the windshield when used in conjunction with the safety glazing materials of such window, has a light transmittance of not less than seventy per cent plus or minus three per cent and is not red or yellow in color
(3) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied to the side windows to the immediate right or left of the driver, so long as such material, when used in conjunction with the safety glazing materials of such windows, has a light transmittance of not less than fifty per cent plus or minus three per cent and is not red or yellow in color.
(4) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied to a window not otherwise listed in paragraphs (A)(1) to (A)(3) or (A)(5) of this rule, except that outside left and right rear view mirrors are required if the sunscreening material is applied to the rear window and the sunscreening material, when used in conjunction with the safety glazing material of such window, has a light transmittance of less than fifty per cent plus or minus three per cent.
(5) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied along the top of the windshield and that does not extend downward beyond the AS-1 line or five inches from the top of the windshield, whichever is closer to the top, is not regulated by this rule or this chapter.
(B) No person shall install in any motor vehicle any glass or other material that fails to conform to the specifications of this chapter.
(C) No used motor vehicle dealer or new motor vehicle dealer, as defined in section 4517.01 of the Revised Code, shall sell any motor vehicle that fails to conform to the specifications of this chapter.
(D) No reflectorized materials shall be permitted upon or in any front windshield, side windows, sidewings or rear window.
(E) No person shall operate on any highway or other public or private property open to the public for vehicular travel or parking, lease, or rent any motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this state that is equipped with privacy drapes, louvers, curtains or blinds unless the drapes, louvers, curtains or blinds are open and secure during vehicle operation.
(F) All motor vehicles, beginning with the 1990 model year, must be equipped with labels identifying sunscreening material. All sunscreening material must indicate the manufacturer's name and the percentage level of light transmission of the material permanently installed between the material and the surface to which the material is applied or affixed. Such label must be legible and must be placed in the lower left-hand corner of the vehicle window when viewed from the outside.
Last updated October 23, 2023 at 11:46 AM
Supplemental Information