West Virginia Window Tint Law 2026

The 35% figure in (c) is scoped to the side wings, side windows and rear windows. It is not stated for the windshield strip, so no number is carried here.

The RESTRICTIVE tie-breaker — the stricter of the two measures governs. Contrast North Carolina's "whichever measurement is longer" on the same pair of measures. The statute renders the marking as "ASI line"; every other state writing this rule renders it "AS-1". Recorded as observed rather than silently normalized.

Applies to the side wings and the side windows immediately right and left of the driver. FILM basis: (c) imposes the duty on "a sun-screening device", and (h)(2) defines "Light transmission" as "the ratio of the amount of total light to pass through a product or material to the amount of the total light falling on the product or material" — the material, not the installed assembly.

West Virginia applies the same 35% figure front and rear on a passenger car — it does not step darker behind the driver. FILM basis: (c) imposes the duty on "a sun-screening device", and (h)(2) defines "Light transmission" as "the ratio of the amount of total light to pass through a product or material to the amount of the total light falling on the product or material" — the material, not the installed assembly.

The same sentence governs the rear-most windows and the side windows behind the driver. FILM basis: (c) imposes the duty on "a sun-screening device", and (h)(2) defines "Light transmission" as "the ratio of the amount of total light to pass through a product or material to the amount of the total light falling on the product or material" — the material, not the installed assembly.

Two separate requirements in one clause: the device must be "a nonreflective type" AND must not exceed 20% reflectivity. (h)(7) defines "Nonreflective" as "a product or material designed to absorb light rather than to reflect it."

Applies to ALL vehicle classes. The (g) exemption reaches only the light transmittance requirement, so a truck, bus or MPV with untinted-VLT rear glass is still capped at 20% reflectance.

A carried affidavit, not a state-issued permit — no application to any agency, and an OPTOMETRIST may sign as well as a physician. The exemption disapplies the whole section, transmittance and reflectance alike. The affidavit "must be in the possession of the person so afflicted, or the person's legal guardian, at all times while being transported in the motor vehicle." Contrast North Carolina, where the state issues a five-year permit.

The duty is split: (d)(2) puts the label on the MANUFACTURER, while (e)(2) forbids any person to "install any sun-screening product or material on vehicles intended for use on public roads without permanently affixing the label specified in this section" — so the installer carries the affixing duty. Placement per (d)(3): "The labeling or marking must be placed in the left lower corner of each glazing surface when facing the vehicle from the outside." (d)(1) additionally requires manufacturers to certify compliance to the West Virginia State Police and the Division of Motor Vehicles.

The colour bar is written into the windshield subsection only. §17C-15-36a states no colour restriction for the side or rear windows — the constraint there is the 20% reflectivity cap and the "nonreflective type" requirement in (c).

A true conditional equipment duty: tinting anything behind the driver triggers a requirement for BOTH outside mirrors. The trigger is the presence of a device, not a darkness threshold — contrast Ohio, where a 50% figure functions as the mirror trigger.