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Arizona exempts front side windows at 33% light transmission and 35% reflectance (material plus glazing), each plus or minus 3%. Rear side windows are exempt at 35% plus or minus 3% reflectance or less. The rear window is exempt on that test, or with both outside mirrors showing at least 200 feet behind. A non-red, non-amber windshield top strip is exempt if its bottom edge is at least 29 inches above the driver's seat.
Source: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-959.01; A.R.S. § 28-101 (definitions); A.R.S. § 28-121 (violation classification); A.R.S. § 28-922 (lighted lamps required); A.R.S. § 28-1598 (maximum civil penalty); A.R.S. § 28-1603 (penalty mitigation or waiver); A.R.S. § 28-5201 (commercial motor vehicle definition); A.R.S. Title 28 table of contents (chapter placement); A.R.S. Title 32 table of contents (chapters 13, 14 and 17); A.A.C. R17-5-202 (Cornell LII mirror of the Arizona Administrative Code); 49 CFR 393.60 (2023 edition, GovInfo); ADOT window tinting exemption page; ADOT window tinting exemption FAQ; ADOT Form 40-1511; ADOT MVD and Courts Training Manual (2025-2026); State v. Moreno, No. 2 CA-CR 2013-0339 (Ariz. App. Dec. 30, 2014). Summary last checked against these sources on September 19, 2026.
| Window | Rule |
|---|---|
| Windshield | Transparent material on the topmost portion is exempt if its bottom edge is at least 29 inches above the undepressed driver's seat and the material is not red or amber. The distance is measured from a point 5 inches in front of the bottom of the backrest, with the driver's seat in its rearmost and lowermost position and the vehicle on a level surface. The statute states no light-transmission figure for the strip. The section lists no exception for tint film on the rest of the windshield. It does exempt signs, stickers or other materials in a 7-inch square in the lower corner farthest from the driver and a 5-inch square in the lower corner nearest the driver. It also exempts safety monitoring equipment and driver feedback mounted immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the rearview mirror, or where the mirror would commonly be positioned if the vehicle has no windshield-mounted mirror. |
| Front side windows | Exempt when material used with the glazing has light transmission of 33% plus or minus 3% and luminous reflectance of 35% plus or minus 3%. The statute's front-window text has no "at least", "minimum" or "or less" wording; the FAQ below covers how one court read the light-transmission figure. The same exemption covers front side wing vents. Front side wing vents and windows are separately exempt for material not attached to the glazing that a vehicle operator uses on a moving vehicle during daylight hours, as provided in section 28-922 (subsection A.2). Section 28-922 is titled "Lighted lamps required"; this page reports the cross-reference and does not interpret it. |
| Rear side windows | Side windows to the rear of the driver are exempt when material used with the glazing has luminous reflectance of 35% plus or minus 3% or less. The statute states no light-transmission condition. |
| Rear window | Exempt on that same reflectance test (subsection A.6 covers side windows to the rear of the driver and rear windows). Separately exempt if the vehicle has outside mirrors on both the left-hand and right-hand sides, located to reflect to the driver a view of the highway through each mirror for at least 200 feet to the rear (subsection A.10). The mirror route has no reflectance or light-transmission condition. |
| Reflectance and color | Subsection C bars transparent material that alters the color or reduces the light transmittance of the windshield or side or rear windows unless an exception applies. The front side, rear side and rear window exceptions set no color condition, and the windshield strip cannot be red or amber. The statute defines luminous reflectance as the share of light reflected outward by the product or material. |
| Commercial motor vehicles | A separate rule from section 28-959.01. Arizona Department of Transportation rules (A.A.C. R17-5-202) incorporate 49 CFR part 393 for motor carriers operating in Arizona and persons operating a commercial motor vehicle. 49 CFR 393.60(d) allows coloring or tinting of the windshield and the windows immediately right and left of the driver if the tinted glazing has a parallel luminous transmittance of not less than 70% at normal incidence in the portions marked as such. That limit does not apply to other windows on the commercial motor vehicle. Commercial motor vehicle is defined in A.R.S. 28-5201, and this page does not decide whether a particular vehicle qualifies. |
VLT (visible light transmission) is the percentage of visible light that passes through a window or film; a higher number means lighter tint. Most state limits are measured on the finished window (glass and film together). Where a rule is stated for the film itself, the table says so. Some states also limit reflectance, the share of light bounced back off the surface (a mirror-like look).
Section 28-959.01 lists exceptions to two bans. Subsection B bars objects or material on the windshield or side or rear windows, or in or on the vehicle, that obstruct or reduce the driver's clear view. Subsection C bars transparent material on those windows that alters color or reduces light transmittance. The section states no factory-glass limit, does not divide vehicles by body style, and has no exemption for law-enforcement, school or out-of-state vehicles. Its only vehicle-type carve-out is destination signs on passenger common carriers that do not interfere with the driver's view of approaching traffic. Commercial motor vehicles face a separate rule (see rules).
Arizona law lets the Arizona Department of Transportation issue an exemption from this section to a person required for medical reasons to be shielded from the direct rays of the sun, on application supported by a written attestation from a physician licensed under Arizona Title 32, chapter 13, 14 or 17 (medicine and surgery, naturopathic medicine, or osteopathic physicians and surgeons). It can cover a vehicle the person owns or one in which the person is a habitual passenger. The statute describes the change as being to the side or rear windows. ADOT's FAQ says the exemption does not include the front windshield, and its application form says the exemption applies only to the driver side, passenger side and back windows, not the windshield below the AS-1. ADOT's Medical Review Program takes applications on Form 40-1511 certified by an MD, DO, NMD or ophthalmologist, and ADOT says the person must have a certificate in each vehicle they own. The form's certification also says the person is required to be shielded from the direct rays of the sun and that eye protective devices will not provide adequate protection; the eye-protective-devices wording is ADOT's form, not the statute's. ADOT's FAQ describes a different submission (a registration copy and a physician letter), so check ADOT's current page and form before applying. The statute states no fee or renewal period, and this page does not cover either.
Section 28-959.01 has no penalty subsection and no fix-it or correction provision of its own. Under section 28-121, a violation of a chapter 3 provision is a civil traffic violation unless the statute says otherwise, and this section does not. The Arizona Department of Transportation's 2025-2026 MVD and Courts Training Manual lists subsections B and C as civil violations with 0 points. A civil traffic penalty generally may not exceed $250, plus court surcharges (section 28-1598), and a judge may mitigate or waive a civil penalty if the person shows paying it would be a hardship (section 28-1603).
Arizona's tint ban exempts front side windows when material used with the glazing has light transmission of 33% plus or minus 3% and luminous reflectance of 35% plus or minus 3%. Rear side windows are exempt at luminous reflectance of 35% plus or minus 3% or less. The rear window is exempt on that test, or separately when outside mirrors on both sides show at least 200 feet of road behind. On the windshield, a non-red, non-amber transparent strip on the topmost portion is exempt if its bottom edge is at least 29 inches above the undepressed driver's seat. Commercial motor vehicles are also subject to a separate federal rule that Arizona incorporates (see the commercial vehicle answer below).
The statute does not call it a minimum. It words the front figure as light transmission of 33% plus or minus 3% with luminous reflectance of 35% plus or minus 3%, with no "at least", "minimum" or "or less" language. In State v. Moreno (Arizona Court of Appeals, 2014), a traffic-stop case, the court called an officer's description of the figure as allowing 36% or 30% an accurate recitation of the statute, called a 36% window legal, and in a footnote used a 40% window as an example where believing it violated the front-window provision would be a mistake of law. The court was deciding whether the stop was reasonable, not the exact wording of the limit. Moreno discussed only the light-transmission figure; it did not say whether the reflectance figure works as a ceiling, a range or a floor, and the statute's front-window text does not say.
Section 28-959.01 states no light-transmission minimum for rear side windows or the rear window; the exceptions turn on reflectance and mirrors instead. Rear side windows are exempt at luminous reflectance of 35% plus or minus 3% or less. The rear window is exempt on that test, or separately when outside mirrors on both the left-hand and right-hand sides show the highway through each mirror for at least 200 feet to the rear, and the mirror route has no reflectance condition. The section does not divide vehicles by body style; it uses the term motor vehicle as section 28-101 defines it, which covers a self-propelled vehicle with exclusions such as scrap vehicles, motorized wheelchairs and electric bicycles, so SUVs, trucks and vans follow the same tests under this section. Commercial motor vehicles are also covered by a separate federal rule (see the commercial vehicle answer below). A rear or rear side window that meets none of the applicable tests is not covered by these exceptions, and subsection C's ban on color-changing or light-reducing transparent material then applies.
Not in the windshield strip, because that exception is conditioned on the material not being red or amber. For side and rear windows, the front-window, rear-side-window and rear-window exceptions set light-transmission, reflectance or mirror conditions and no color condition. Subsection C otherwise bars transparent material that alters a window's color, so colored film depends on fitting one of those exceptions.
Arizona has a medical exemption that the Arizona Department of Transportation may issue to a person who is required for medical reasons to be shielded from the direct rays of the sun, on a written attestation from a physician licensed under Title 32, chapter 13, 14 or 17. It can cover a vehicle the person owns or one in which they are a habitual passenger. The statute describes the change as being to the side or rear windows, and ADOT says the exemption does not include the front windshield. ADOT's application form adds a certification that eye protective devices will not provide adequate protection; that wording is ADOT's, not the statute's.
Each manufacturer must certify to the director of the Arizona Department of Transportation that its product or material complies with the section's reflectivity and transmittance requirements. A person who sells or installs the material must state conspicuously that installing it on a driver or passenger side window may be illegal in some states. The section does not itself require an installer sticker or an in-vehicle certificate; subsection E says it neither allows nor prohibits certificates that other laws require or prohibit on windows.
Section 28-959.01 does not set a separate tint rule for commercial motor vehicles, but Arizona Department of Transportation rules (A.A.C. R17-5-202) separately incorporate 49 CFR part 393 for motor carriers operating in Arizona and persons operating a commercial motor vehicle. 49 CFR 393.60(d) allows coloring or tinting of the windshield and the windows immediately right and left of the driver if the tinted glazing has a parallel luminous transmittance of not less than 70% in the portions marked as such, and says that limit does not apply to other windows on the commercial motor vehicle. A.R.S. 28-5201 defines a commercial motor vehicle as one used to transport passengers or property in furtherance of a commercial enterprise, subject to other conditions, and lists categories that include buses, school buses, vehicles carrying passengers for hire that are designed for nine or more persons, and weight thresholds of 10,001 pounds or more for interstate use and 26,001 pounds or more for intrastate use. This page does not decide whether a particular vehicle qualifies.
Read the full Arizona breakdown
Running a tint shop in Arizona? See shop software for Arizona.
This page summarizes Arizona statute and regulation text for general information and is not legal advice. It covers passenger vehicles with aftermarket film (film added after the vehicle left the factory) and includes SUV, van and truck rules where the state sets different ones. Some vehicle types, such as limousines, buses, commercial and law-enforcement vehicles, and factory glass are treated differently in some states, and whether a vehicle registered in another state is covered depends on the state; see “Who this covers” above. Federal glazing rules (FMVSS 205, 49 CFR 571.205) apply separately from state law, and 49 U.S.C. 30122 bars manufacturers, distributors, dealers, rental companies and motor vehicle repair businesses from knowingly making required safety equipment inoperative, so installers should check both. Laws change and enforcement varies; confirm current requirements with the state before tinting. Before tinting, ask the installer to measure your glass and confirm the finished window will meet the limit; afterward, ask for a reading on a light-transmission meter and keep it.