HF3907

Purpose

Explain the bill’s aim: to modify how tinted window glazing (window tint) exceptions work, specifically for police vehicles, by adding prescription-based allowances and detailed requirements tied to medical needs and light transmission.

Main Provisions

• Amends Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement section 169.71 subdivision 4a to create a more detailed set of glazing material exceptions.
• Prescription-based exemptions: If a driver or passenger has a prescription or a physician’s statement for medical needs, glazing materials can be allowed to reduce light transmission, subject to conditions.
  • The prescription or physician’s statement must specify:
  • Whether the medical need is temporary or permanent.
  • The minimum light transmittance (i.e., how dark the tint may be).
  • An expiration date, which must be no more than two years after the date issued (unless the physician says the condition is permanent and no expiration is appropriate).
• Specific windows covered by the exemption: The tinted window allowances apply to certain windows on specific vehicle types, including:
  • Rear windows of a pickup truck.
  • Rear windows or side windows behind the driver’s seat on a van.
  • Side and rear windows of vehicles used to transport human remains by a licensed funeral establishment.
  • Side and rear windows of a limousine.
  • Rear and side windows behind the driver’s seat of a police vehicle regularly used for law enforcement activities.
• Allowance for third-party prescriptions: A driver may rely on a prescription or physician’s statement given to someone else (e.g., a parent, spouse, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or personal care attendant) if:
  • The prescription is issued to that person and meets the same conditions.
  • The prescription specifies the make, model, and license plate of one or two vehicles that will have tinted windows.
  • The driver is in possession of the prescription or physician’s statement.
• Scope limitation: The exemptions do not apply where glazing materials have not been modified since original installation, unless the prescription/statement meets the specified conditions, and do not apply to original replacement windows that were installed or replaced in conformity with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 205 (FMVSS 205).

Significance and Changes to Current Law

• Expands and formalizes medical exemptions for window tint, including explicit requirements about medical need, duration, and light transmission levels.
• Creates a narrow list of vehicle types and window locations where tint exemptions can apply when tied to a medical prescription.
• Introduces a process to allow prescriptions tied to third parties and to specify which vehicles can be affected.
• Embeds a two-year expiration cap on prescriptions (unless permanent condition is noted) and requires alignment with FMVSS 205 for certain windows.
• Explicitly ties tint exceptions to medical need rather than a blanket allowance, potentially tightening or clarifying when tinting is permitted.

Practical Impact

• Police vehicles and certain other vehicle types may have expanded or clarified tint allowances when supported by medical prescriptions.
• Drivers with medical needs must obtain and carry a prescription/physician’s statement that meet the defined criteria (temporary vs permanent, minimum light transmittance, expiration, and vehicle specifics).
• The bill creates a mechanism for clinicians or authorized individuals to authorize tinting for another person or for a vehicle specified in the prescription.

Relevant Terms glazing materials; light transmittance; prescription; physician’s statement; medical need; temporary; permanent; expiration date; two years; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 205; rear windows; pickup truck; van; funeral establishment; limousine; police vehicle; law enforcement activities; make; model; license plate