Hawaii window tint law

The rules, window by window

Hawaii’s tint law is HRS §291-21.5 as amended by Act 129 (2025), which took effect on May 29, 2025. For a passenger car, truck or van it comes down to this:

• Front side windows and wing vents: at least 35% of visible light through the film and glass together, with a ±6% tolerance.
• Rear side windows: any shade on sedans, vans, minivans, trucks and buses with mirrors on both sides.
• Back glass: any shade on those vehicles and other motor vehicles with mirrors on both sides.
• Windshield: a top strip down to the AS-1 line, or 4 inches from the top where there is no AS-1 mark. Clear film that meets FMVSS 205 is allowed below it, as long as the AS-1 area still reads 70%.
• Color and reflectivity: no mirrored or highly reflective film, and no film that looks red, yellow, amber or blue from outside.
• Third brake light: no film over it on 2013 and newer vehicles.

If you are planning a window tint install, the front number decides your front shade. The rear is mostly your call.

What 35% ±6% means at the meter

VLT, visible light transmission, is the share of light that gets through the window. The lower the number, the darker the glass. Hawaii measures the whole window, film and glass together, and the inspection meter is allowed a six-point tolerance on side and rear windows. In practice that means a front window that reads 29% or higher passes.

Factory glass is rarely perfectly clear. Typical clear door glass already blocks a little light, so a 35% film on it reads close to 30%: legal, with very little to spare. Glass that starts darker can push the same film under 29%. That is why the shop meters your bare front glass before choosing a film, and why a 35% film is the darkest front shade Offshore puts on most cars. Many mainland states allow darker fronts than this, which matters if your car came over on a ship (more on that below).

The rear windows, and what Act 129 changed

Before Act 129, a sedan’s rear side windows and back glass were held to the same 35% as the front, while vans, trucks and buses could already go darker behind the driver. The amended law put sedans in the same group. Now the rear side windows can be any shade on sedans, vans, minivans, trucks and buses with mirrors on both sides, and the back glass can be any shade on those and other motor vehicles with both mirrors.

The statute doesn’t name SUVs, coupes or hatchbacks in the rear side window rule, so the shop confirms the rear shade for them with you before anything is cut. On 2013 and newer vehicles, the film on the back glass is cut clear of the third brake light, because tint over it fails inspection.

The windshield and the AS-1 line

Most windshields have a small “AS-1” mark near the top edge. Tint is allowed above that line, or in the top 4 inches where there is no mark. A strip there takes the edge off low morning and evening sun.

Below the line, the law allows only clear film that meets FMVSS 205, the federal standard for automotive glass, and the AS-1 area has to read at least 70% at inspection with no tolerance added. That rules out any visible shade on the windshield. Windshield film at Offshore is offered on the V10 and V16 ceramic tiers. On a Hawaii car it has to be a clear film, and it goes on only if your windshield still reads 70% in the AS-1 area with the film applied.

Color and reflectivity

Hawaii does not allow mirrored or highly reflective film, or film that looks red, yellow, amber or blue from outside the vehicle. The ProLayers carbon and ceramic films Offshore installs are non-metallic, so they don’t have the mirror look and don’t interfere with phone, GPS or radio signals.

The certificate

Hawaii requires the installer to give the vehicle owner a certificate, at the time of the install, stating that the film complies with the law. The certificate has to stay in the vehicle. If you are cited and it isn’t there, the law treats that as evidence against the installer, and the installer’s receipt identifies who did the work.

Offshore gives a certificate with every vehicle install. Keep it with your registration, and keep the receipt too.

Fines, traffic stops and inspection

The owner of a vehicle with illegal tint faces a fine of 300 to 550 dollars for each offence. The installer faces a fine of 700 to 1,200 dollars per offence and has to reinstall legal film free of charge or reimburse the owner.

Drivers and passengers in a tinted vehicle must fully roll their windows down when stopped by a police officer, unless a physical disability or a mechanical failure prevents it.

The annual safety inspection meters the tint. The inspector reads the windows with a light transmittance meter and records the readings, and a vehicle whose tint reads too dark, or whose driver’s window can’t be lowered, doesn’t pass.

No medical exemption

Hawaii has no medical exemption for darker front windows. A doctor’s note doesn’t change the 35% rule, so don’t plan a front shade around one. If heat and light are the problem, a ceramic film at a legal shade is the answer.

Shipped from the mainland

Cars shipped to Maui often arrive with front tint that was legal in the state they came from and fails Hawaii’s test. The shop meters the front windows, replaces the front film with a legal shade, and gives you the Hawaii certificate, so the car is ready for its safety inspection here. Rear film that is in good shape and legal for your body style can stay. The shipping a car to Maui page covers the rest of the arrival.

Cool without going dark

Heat and darkness are separate. A ceramic film rejects infrared heat at a legal shade, so a 35% ceramic on the front doors can keep a cabin cooler than a darker dyed film would. Offshore installs ProLayers film in V6 Comfort carbon, V10 Ceramic IR and V16 Ceramic IR MAX, all in legal front shades and darker rear shades. The ceramic vs regular tint post explains the heat side of the choice.

General information, not legal advice

This page summarizes HRS §291-21.5 on the Hawaii State Legislature site as amended by Act 129 (2025), and was last reviewed in October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice. Read the statute for the exact wording, and ask a lawyer about your own situation.

Put your year, make and model on the quote and the shade you have in mind, and the shop will tell you what reads legal on your car.