The Empire State has some of the strictest tint laws in the country, but a bill slowly making its way through the New York legislature may legalize a lower level of visible light transmittance (VLT).

New York currently bans tint with less than 70% VLT. As in many states, law enforcement can pull over and fine drivers with illegal tint. New York takes it a step further, also requiring tint compliance for vehicles to pass state inspections. Those strict regulations could soon change. The state may update its law to lower the required VLT to 50%.

What the Bills Say

The New York State Senate and Assembly introduced identical bills, S4572 and A5306, in early 2025. The legislative branches’ respective transportation committees are considering the bills before they’re put to a vote.

Two bills that would lower the legally permitted level of VLT are slowly working their way through the New York State Legislature.

If one of the bills becomes law, side windows and rear windshields on any New York “station wagon, sedan, hardtop, coupe, hatchback or convertible” could have a VLT of 50% or more. Windshields, however, still can’t be tinted with anything darker than a 70% VLT film “unless such materials are limited to the uppermost six inches of the windshield.”

There’s a little leeway in measuring the VLT, the bill adds

“[Any VLT] measurements made by the commissioner, or their designee, shall be given a tolerance of plus or minus 7%,” the bills say.

Why the Change?

The Senate bill includes several introductory paragraphs justifying why New York should update its current tint regulations.

“The current visible light standard of 70% VLT evolved from physical limits in glass manufacturing specifications established in the 1930s,” it says, explaining that those limitations no longer exist. “Neither driver performance nor protections for law enforcement were motivations for these laws and regulations.”

The explanation adds that, at the time the bill was introduced, fewer than 10 states required 70% or greater VLT on front side windows, and only New York and one other state required tint to meet those standards on all windows.

Allowing darker tint would lower exposure to ultraviolet rays and help reduce cancer risk without significantly obstructing the driver’s view out of the vehicle or law enforcement’s view into the vehicle, the introduction argues.

“Demonstrations performed by the window film industry show the contrast from 70% to 50% is minimal when looking through the window from the outside of the automobile,” it says.

A Local’s Perspective

Lowering the required VLT to 50% would be a big help to New York tint shops if it actually passes, says Paul Bullard, the owner of Rainbow Glass Tinting in Kenmore, New York.

“I’m not sure it will go through,” says Bullard, “A lot of city governments make good money on fining drivers for tint that’s too dark under the current law.”

Bullard has good reason to be skeptical. New York introduced a similar bill in 2019, but it never became law.

“I think 50% VLT would be an improvement [because it would bring tint shops new customers],” he says. “I would like it even better if the law went down to 35%.”