Colorado window tint laws (2026)

For vehicles registered in Colorado, the law sets a 27% minimum light transmittance for every window except the windshield, including front side, rear side and rear windows. Windows behind the driver may go below 27% if the front side windows and windshield allow at least 70%. The windshield minimum is 70%.

Factory-installed windows approved under federal rules, and law-enforcement vehicles, are treated separately.

Yes, on windows behind the driver, if the front side windows and the windshield each allow at least 70% light transmittance. That exception does not reach front side windows, and the metallic-or-mirrored ban in subsection (1)(d) still applies, subject to the factory-window carve-out in (1)(c).

Separate carve-outs cover factory-installed windows approved under federal rules (or a replacement meeting the same guidelines) and law-enforcement vehicles. Darker rear glass can also bring in section 42-4-226(2), which calls for an exterior mirror on each side when the rear window and rear side windows obstruct the driver's rear view or are nontransparent.

Generally no. Subsection (1)(d) of the tint statute says no material shall be used on any window that presents a metallic or mirrored appearance. The carve-out for factory-installed windows approved under federal rules is written for subsection (1) as a whole.

Not in the tint statute. Section 42-4-227(4) says the section applies to all motor vehicles, and it sets one set of limits with no split by body style.

The carve-outs that turn on the vehicle or how its glass was made are for factory-installed windows approved under federal rules (or a replacement meeting the same guidelines) and for law-enforcement vehicles, and the 27% rule itself is written for vehicles registered in Colorado.

The section's other exceptions turn on the window, not the vehicle type: the darker-rear rule for windows behind the driver, the windshield top strip, and required certificates and papers. Commercial vehicles and school transportation vehicles can face separate rules, covered in the last question.

Yes, in classification. Operating a vehicle with a noncompliant window is a class B traffic infraction, while installing, covering or treating a windshield or window so it does not meet subsection (1)(a) is a class A traffic infraction under C.R.S. 42-4-227(3).

The general table lists $15 to $100 for both classes but yields to the penalty schedule and notice provisions in subsections (4) and (5) of section 42-4-1701, which list the section at one amount, a $50 penalty plus a $16 surcharge.

The 27% operating rule in C.R.S. 42-4-227(1)(a)(I) is written for a motor vehicle registered in Colorado, and the section sets no separate limit for vehicles registered elsewhere.

Other parts of the section, such as the metallic-or-mirrored rule in (1)(d), carry no registration wording, and the statute does not say how the installer offense in (3)(b) treats another state's vehicle. This is an unsettled point, and this page does not predict how an officer or court would treat such a vehicle.

They can. C.R.S. 42-4-227 itself has no separate limits for buses, limousines or school buses, but other rules can apply.

The Colorado State Patrol's commercial vehicle rule (8 CCR 1507-1, MCS 6, effective April 1, 2026) requires commercial vehicles, as defined in C.R.S. 42-4-235(1)(a), and their drivers operating in Colorado to operate consistently with 49 CFR part 393.

Section 393.60(d) of that part allows coloring or tinting of the windshield and the windows immediately right and left of the driver if the glazing keeps at least 70% parallel luminous transmittance in the portions marked as having it, and says that limit does not apply to other windows on the commercial motor vehicle.

For school transportation vehicles owned or leased by a school district, charter school or service provider and used for student transportation, State Board of Education rule 1 CCR 301-25, Rule 6.5, bars obstructing the windows with advertising, decorations or vehicle wraps and excepts tint applied by the vehicle manufacturer to industry standards.

The text of that school rule names no percentage. This page does not work out how these rules combine with the 27% statute for a particular vehicle.

At least 70% light transmittance.

Nontransparent material is allowed on the topmost portion if its bottom edge is no more than 4 inches below the top of the windshield, it is not red or amber, it does not affect perception of primary colors or otherwise distort vision, it has no lettering that distorts or obstructs vision, and it does not reflect sunlight or headlight glare into the eyes of occupants of oncoming or preceding vehicles more than the windshield would without it.