Montana Code 61-9-405. Windshields required, exception — unobstructed and equipped with wipers — window tinting and sunscreening — restrictions — exemptions
61-9-405. Windshields required, exception — unobstructed and equipped with wipers — window tinting and sunscreening — restrictions — exemptions. (1) A motor vehicle, except a motorcycle, quadricycle, motor-driven cycle, or farm tractor, must be equipped with a front windshield meeting the requirements of 61-9-408, unless the driver wears safety glasses, goggles, or face shields at all times during the operation of the motor vehicle.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-9-405
- Bus: means a motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 10 passengers and used for the transportation of persons and any other motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Camper: means a structure designed to be mounted in the cargo area of a truck or attached to an incomplete vehicle for the purpose of providing shelter for persons. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Driver: means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Farm tractor: means a motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines, and other implements of husbandry. See Montana Code 61-9-102
- Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motor home: means a motor vehicle:
(a)designed to provide temporary living quarters, built as an integral part of or permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van;
(b)containing permanently installed independent life support systems that meet the NFPA 1192 standard on recreational vehicles; and
(c)providing at least four of the following types of facilities:
(i)cooking, refrigeration, or icebox;
(ii)self-contained toilet;
(iii)heating or air conditioning, or both;
(iv)potable water supply, including a faucet and sink; or
(v)separate 110-volt or 125-volt electrical power supply or a liquefied petroleum gas supply, or both. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motor vehicle: means :
(i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;
(ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or
(iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motor-driven cycle: means a motorcycle, including a motor scooter, with a motor that produces 5 horsepower or less. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Motorcycle: means a motor vehicle that has a seat or saddle for the use of the operator and that is designated to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Quadricycle: means a four-wheeled motor vehicle, designed for on-road or off-road use, having a seat or saddle on which the operator sits. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Van: means a motor vehicle designed for the transportation of at least six persons and not more than nine persons and intended for but not limited to family or personal transportation without compensation. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(2)A person may not drive a motor vehicle with:
(a)a sign, poster, substance, or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, side wings, or side or rear windows of the vehicle that materially obstructs, obscures, or impairs the driver’s clear view of the highway or an intersecting highway; or
(b)a windshield that is shattered or in such a defective condition that it materially impairs or obstructs the driver’s clear view.
(3)The windshield on a motor vehicle must be equipped with a device for clearing rain, snow, or other moisture from the windshield. The device must be maintained in good working order.
(4)A person may not operate a motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this state upon a highway if:
(a)the windshield has sunscreening material that is not clear and transparent below the AS-1 line or if it has a sunscreening material that is red, yellow, or amber in color above the AS-1 line;
(b)the front side windows have sunscreening or other transparent material that has a luminous reflectance of more than 35% or has light transmission of less than 24%;
(c)the rear window or side windows behind the front seat have sunscreening or other transparent material that has a luminous reflectance of more than 35% or has light transmission of less than 14%, except for the rear window or side windows behind the front seat on a multipurpose vehicle, van, or bus; or
(d)the windows of a camper, motor home, pickup cover, slide-in camper, or other motor vehicle do not meet the standards for safety glazing material specified by federal law in 49 C.F.R. § 571.205.
(5)As used in 61-9-428, 61-9-429, and this section, the following definitions apply:
(a)”Glass-plastic glazing material” means a laminate of one or more layers of glass and one or more layers of plastic in which a plastic surface of the glazing faces inward when the glazing is installed in a vehicle.
(b)”Light transmission” means the ratio of the amount of total light, expressed in percentages, that is allowed to pass through the sunscreening or transparent material to the amount of total light falling on the motor vehicle window.
(c)”Luminous reflectance” means the ratio of the amount of total light, expressed in percentages, that is reflected outward by the sunscreening or transparent material to the amount of total light falling on the motor vehicle window.
(d)”Multipurpose vehicle” means a motor vehicle designed to carry 10 or fewer passengers that is constructed on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional off-road use.
(e)”Pickup cover” means a camper having a roof and sides but without a floor designed to be mounted on and removable from the cargo area of a pickup truck by the user.
(f)”Slide-in camper” means a camper having a roof, floor, and sides designed to be mounted on and removable from the cargo area of a truck by the user.
(g)”Sunscreening material” means a film, material, tint, or device applied to motor vehicle windows for the purpose of reducing the effects of the sun.
(6)Except as provided in subsection (7), subsection (4) applies to all vehicles that are equipped with tinted windows, including windows with less than 100% light transmission to which additional sunscreening material has been applied.
(7)Subsection (4) does not apply to a multipurpose vehicle that is equipped with tinted windows that were installed by the manufacturer of the vehicle or to a hearse, ambulance, government vehicle, or any other vehicle to which a currently valid certificate of waiver is affixed as specified under 61-9-428. A certificate of waiver must be issued by the department for a vehicle that was registered in this state on October 1, 1991, and was equipped with a sunscreening device or other material prohibited under subsection (4) on October 1, 1991.