California’s Law on Tinted Windows, Clear as Mud? We Discuss Multiple State and Federal Case Rulings

By Robert Phillips  

Deputy District Attorney (ret.)  

California’s Law on Tinted Windows 

Vehicle Code sections 26708 and 26708.5 set out the law on tinted windows in motor vehicles in California. In a nutshell, tinted windows are illegal if the tinting applied to a vehicle’s windows “alters the color or reduces the light transmittance of the windshield or side or rear windows.” (V.C. § 26708,5(a))  

The Vehicle Code provides for a complicated and nearly incomprehensible list of exceptions (28 of them) as described in V.C. § 26708, subdivisions (b), (c), (d) & (e). (E.g., (b)(4) “Side windows that are to the rear of the driver.” (b)(8) “The rear window or windows, if the motor vehicle is equipped with outside mirrors on both the left- and right-hand sides of the vehicle...”)  

But generally, tinted windows must have a minimum visible light transmittance of 88% to be lawful. (V.C. § 26708(d)(1)), or at least a “minimum light transmittance of 70 percent (with an) abrasion resistance of AS-14 glazing, as specified in” the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 205 (49 C.F.R. 571.205) (V.C. § 26708(d)(2)), whatever that means.  

An officer in the field cannot possibly conclude, or testify in court, as to whether these standards have been met. Ultimately it requires an expert to actually analyze the vehicle’s windows at issue and be ready to testify in court as to his or her findings. From an enforcement standpoint, however, an officer only needs a “reasonable suspicion” of a violation to make a traffic stop, and “probable cause” to cite for it.  

But whether an officer’s observation of tinted windows supplies the necessary reasonable suspicion or probable cause is the subject of some conflict. Even so, the weight or authority tends to lean toward the conclusion that such a traffic stop, and subsequent citation, is lawful. Here is all the case law I’ve been able to find on this issue, in chronological order: 

Klarfeld v. State of California (1983) 142 Cal.App.3rd 541: In a civil suit, plaintiffs included car owners and an auto glass coating business. ....

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