Tinted Vehicle Windows: The Law - GOV.UK

Cookies on GOV.UK

We use some essential cookies to make this website work.

We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.

We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.

Accept additional cookies Reject additional cookies View cookies Hide cookie message Skip to main content

1. Home
2. Driving and transport
3. The Highway Code, road safety and vehicle rules

Tinted vehicle windows: the law

The rules for tinted front windscreens and front side windows depend on when the vehicle was first used. There are no rules for tinting the rear windscreen or rear passenger windows.

Vehicles first used on 1 April 1985 or later

The front windscreen must let at least 75% of light through and the front side windows must let at least 70% of light through.

Vehicles first used before 1 April 1985

The front windscreen and front side windows must both let at least 70% of light through.

Penalties for having wrongly tinted windows

It’s illegal to fit or sell glass (or a vehicle already fitted with glass) that breaks the rules on tinted windows.

The police or the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) vehicle examiners use light measuring equipment to measure window tint.

If your windscreen or front side windows are tinted too much you could get:

• a ‘prohibition notice’ stopping you using your vehicle on the road until you have the extra tint removed
• a penalty notice or court summons

Related content

• Being stopped by the police while driving
• Legal obligations of drivers and riders

Explore the topic

• Build or adapt a vehicle
• The Highway Code, road safety and vehicle rules

Is this page useful?

• Yes this page is useful
• No this page is not useful

Thank you for your feedback Report a problem with this page

Help us improve GOV.UK

Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.

This field is for robots only. Please leave blank What were you doing? What went wrong? Send Cancel

Help us improve GOV.UK

To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Please fill in this survey (opens in a new tab).

Cancel