Automotive safety glass laws in the US

[David Dunn]

This is a re-post of an earlier post on autoglass in the US. It is these laws that governed what autoglass I produce and sell. Europe has similar laws ( don't know all the details and specifics), but glass requires an " E" label ( my manufacturers are not cert'ed for).

As a sidenote; Many Euro MVs of the 70's and before have tempered safety glass windshields originally installed. Though they are legal by federal DOT laws for gray market vehicles over 25 years old ( states may not allow this exemption), YOU should upgrade the windshield to laminated for yours and everyones elses safety on the road. Tempered glass can break by the impact of a single piece of gravel , causing the windshield to break into thousands of little pieces that can come back into the vehicle's occupant faces, and possibily lose control of the vehicle by either the glass shards or the air rushing into the vehicle at road speeds.

The law
" The US DOT set the standards for autoglass and state DOTs may require stricter laws( not less) on some items, but usually defer to the federal standards, I find that some states in the southwest do not enforce the UPON word of the law.

Simple and straight anywhere in the USA, all windshields are AS1 laminated glass, tinted glass ( the glass itself tinted) up to 30% tint is legal in the viewable area .Shaded windshields ( windshields with a dark tinted band across the top). These windshields are tinted and have a dark band above the useable and viewable area of the driver. These windshields will have a horizontal line at the base of this band and a down pointing arrow with an AS1 label, indicating that the glass is of legal window shield tint below that line At no time tinting material can be added to the glass ( hence the word upon).... if you can scrape it off, it's upon .

The glass that is within the driver's view area left and right (normally front doors) are AS2 (either tempered or laminated), they too fall under the same guidelines for tinting as the windshield. Again, no tinting upon the glass. 70% minimum light transparency (30% tint).

Glass behind the driver is AS3. This glass can be almost any safety glass ( almost always tempered or laminated), and can be of any degree of tint. Tinting material can be added to AS3 locations.

Rear windows in any vehicle may be AS2 or AS3, depending on whether you have a mirror on the passenger side of the vehicle or not. The law mandates that all vehicles have a exterior side mirror on the driver's side (left in the US) of the vehicle AND either an interior rearview mirror or an exterior mirror on the passenger side (right side). Without the exterior mirror on the passenger side, the rear window must be to AS2 standards and not be blocked in any fashion ( cargo or anything else that blocks visibility out the rear).


The above standards are the ones that all my glass meet!

All my windshields are AS1, and all door and rear glass are tempered AS2 ( back doors in Pinz K can be AS3, but I chose to supply only AS2). SBU Unimog Dokas can have AS3 in their rear doors, BUT because the front and rear door glasses are the same, again I made the decision to supply only AS2. These windows can legally have tinted film upon them.

There are states that will ignore the tinting issue, but the law is still there and may be enforce at the enforcement officer discretion.

I hope this will put to rest any question on automotive glass. "

Dave Dunn

[Peresh]

Dave's got the good stuff! Awesome shields highly recommend them.

[Pinz71slowmover]

[quote="Peresh"]Dave's got the good stuff! Awesome shields highly recommend them.[/quote][color=olive][/color][quote][/quote]