Delaware Window Tint: 50% Front Sides, Rear Unlimited

The operative section is 21 Del. C. § 4313, whose catchline now covers safety glass, the federal safety standards applicable to the windshield, front side window and side wings, and window tinting. Subsection (a) sets the baseline: every listed opening must meet FMVSS 205, 49 C.F.R. § 571.205, as that standard stood when the vehicle was built. Subsections (b) through (f) then carve out what tint is permitted on top of that baseline. Subsection (b) confines windshield film to a transparent strip along the top edge that does not encroach on the AS-1 portion. Subsection (c)(1) permits 50% or greater visible light transmission on the driver's and front passenger's side windows and on the side wings forward of the driver. Subsection (c)(2) permits any film of 0% visible light transmission or greater behind the driver and on the rear window, which in practice means Delaware sets no darkness limit on the back half of the car.

Delaware's own implementing regulation has not caught up, and the gap is wide enough to matter. 2 DE Admin. Code 2277, "Approved Tinting for Side Windows (Formerly Reg. No. 76)," is still an active, unrepealed regulation, and its § 3.1.2 says the front side wing vents and windows to the immediate right and left of the driver "must provide a light transmission of not less than 70 percent," within a manufacturer's tolerance of plus or minus 3%. That regulation was last amended at 9 DE Reg. 1988 (06/01/06) and its own § 1.0 still recites the June 1990 wording of § 4313, including an obligation to display an installer's certificate that no longer appears anywhere in the statute. Regulation 2277 § 3.1.1 also adds a figure the statute does not carry: on older vehicles with no AS-1 mark, windshield film may not extend more than five inches down from the top. Two official Delaware instruments now state different front-side numbers, 50% in the statute and 70% in the regulation. The statute is the later and controlling enactment and is the narrower constraint on the Division of Motor Vehicles, but a driver at 50% should expect the regulation to be quoted at them until it is amended.

Who is actually checked matters as much as the number. Delaware runs a genuine safety inspection, but 21 Del. C. § 2143(a) lets the Department waive it for new vehicles and for the initial registration or renewal of vehicles "no older than 7 model years." A car in its first seven model years is therefore never presented at a Division of Motor Vehicles lane, and its tint is a roadside question only. Once a vehicle passes that age, § 2142 makes the inspection a check on whether it "is equipped in the manner provided by law," and Regulation 2277 § 2.0 states in terms that the rule exists so the Department can decide what is acceptable "at the time of the vehicle safety inspection." Regulation 2277 § 3.1.5 adds that the standard applies to every vehicle operated on Delaware roads regardless of where it is registered, so an out-of-state car is caught roadside even though it never sees a Delaware lane. Two further glazing points sit in the regulation rather than the statute: § 3.1.3 conditions rear-window film on the vehicle having outside mirrors on both the left and right sides, and § 3.1.4 requires the rear-window mounted brake light on 1986 and later vehicles to be clear of tint film.

Three exemptions run alongside. Subsection (d) removes the section entirely for a driver holding a statement signed by a licensed practitioner of medicine and surgery, osteopathic medicine, or optometry verifying that tinted windows are medically necessary for the owner or usual operator. Subsection (e) exempts correctly installed anodized glass on an antique motor vehicle or street rod as defined in §§ 2196 and 2197, and on any vehicle insured under an antique, classic or street rod policy under § 2118. Subsection (f), added by the same 2026 act, exempts vehicles operated by a law-enforcement officer as defined in 11 Del. C. § 222.

Tint is enforced against the driver and against the shop separately. A § 4313 violation falls in the §§ 4312-4316 band of 21 Del. 75 nor more than $100. Section 4315(g) then gives a fix-it route: where no collision has occurred, a § 4313 charge may be dismissed before trial if the defendant establishes that repairs have been made so the vehicle complies, which for tint means stripping the film and showing the court. Installers face a heavier and separate exposure under 21 Del. § 4313A: anyone who installs window tinting material commercially in violation of § 4313 is fined not less than $100 nor more than $500, and if a fee was charged for the installation the installer must pay the vehicle owner restitution in the amount of that fee.

Enforcement authority is broad. Under 21 Del. § 2144(a) the Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security, any authorized agent of the Department, or any police officer may on reasonable cause require a driver to stop and submit the vehicle to further inspection, and may issue a written equipment notice requiring a certificate of inspection and approval within 5 days. Section 2144(b) makes it unlawful to keep operating the vehicle after that notice except to drive it home or to a garage within 20 miles.