Windshield Tint in Texas: What's Legal
· 5 min read
The short answer
Texas allows windshield film above the AS-1 line only — or the top five inches if your glass carries no AS-1 marking — and the film may not be red or amber. That's the strip, and it's the only windshield tint the statute describes in plain terms. What most people are actually asking about is a near-clear ceramic across the whole windshield, and that sits in a genuine grey area: the rule was written for dark sunscreening, and a 70% film that leaves the glass reading close to bare isn't obviously what it was aimed at. We measure the finished glass and tell you where yours lands rather than guess.
Find the AS-1 line#
Sit in the driver's seat and look up at the top of the windshield, a few inches down from the headliner. Somewhere along that band — usually toward a corner — you'll find small etched text, and in it the marking AS-1. That's a federal glazing standard mark, and Texas borrows it as the boundary for windshield film.
- Above the AS-1 line: film is allowed. This is the strip.
- Below it: no tint, with the medical exemption as the narrow exception.
- No AS-1 marking on the glass: the rule falls back to the top five inches.
- Colour: not red and not amber, anywhere on the windshield.
The strip, priced#
| Film | Windshield strip |
|---|---|
| Carbon | $40 |
| Ceramic | $55 |
| Ceramic XR | $75 |
It's an add-on to a tint job rather than a standalone visit — the glass prep and the cure are the same work whether we're doing one panel or six, and a strip on its own is most of an appointment for one small piece of film.
The full-windshield question#
This is the question we actually get asked, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a confident one. A 70% clear ceramic across the entire windshield is a genuinely different product from a dark strip: it barely changes how the glass looks, blocks 99% of UV, and takes a real bite out of the infrared coming through the largest window in the car. It costs $189 in ceramic and $249 in Ceramic XR.
Where it sits legally is less tidy. The windshield rule was written with dark sunscreening in mind, and a film that leaves the finished glass reading close to bare isn't obviously the thing it was aimed at — but the statute describes a location, not a percentage, and we're not going to tell you a grey area is settled. What we will do is put a meter on your glass with the film on it and give you the measured number, so whatever you decide, you decide it knowing where you actually stand.
Can I run a dark strip and a clear full windshield together?
Not as two layers. Film goes on in one piece per panel — overlapping two films on one windshield leaves a visible seam and a bonding problem at the join. Pick one: a dark strip above the AS-1 line, or a clear film across the whole glass.
Why can't I get the Carbon across a full windshield?
HiTek Carbon IR isn't made in a 70% shade. The lightest it comes is 50%, which is far too dark to put across a windshield under any reading of the rule. That's a product limit, not a policy one — the film simply doesn't exist in the shade the job needs.
Does a medical exemption cover the windshield?
A signed statement from a licensed physician or optometrist allows darker front side windows. Bring the paperwork and we'll install to it. The windshield is the part people most often assume it covers and most often it doesn't — show us the exemption and we'll read it with you before anything is cut.
Front, rear, sides and windshield, with the numbers and what they mean on your car.
Every Texas limit, window by window