Colorado Window Tint Law 2026

This is the inverse of the common drafting. Most states permit a tinted band and cap how dark it may be; Colorado permits fully nontransparent material and caps only how far down it may reach. Assigning a percentage here — even a permissive one — would misstate the rule, because the statute allows 0% transmittance in that band.

Colorado measures in inches from the top of the windshield and never mentions the AS-1 line, so the depth does not vary with the glazing manufacturer's marking. The permission is introduced by (1)(b): "Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1), nontransparent material may be applied, installed, or affixed to the topmost portion of the windshield subject to the following".

The windshield duty is stated as its own sentence in (1)(a)(I), immediately after the 27% rule for the other windows, and is not qualified by the (1)(a)(II) rear-glass trade. NET_ASSEMBLY basis: the grammatical subject that must "allow" 27% is the WINDOW as composed, covered or treated — "no person shall operate a motor vehicle ... on which any window ... is composed of, covered by, or treated with any material or component that presents an opaque, nontransparent, or metallic or mirrored appearance in such a way that it allows less than twenty-seven percent light transmittance." Colorado never rates the film in isolation, so a 27%-rated film over factory-tinted glass can put the window out of compliance.

NET_ASSEMBLY basis: the grammatical subject that must "allow" 27% is the WINDOW as composed, covered or treated — "no person shall operate a motor vehicle ... on which any window ... is composed of, covered by, or treated with any material or component that presents an opaque, nontransparent, or metallic or mirrored appearance in such a way that it allows less than twenty-seven percent light transmittance." Colorado never rates the film in isolation, so a 27%-rated film over factory-tinted glass can put the window out of compliance. The front side windows also carry a conditional second duty: if the owner wants the (1)(a)(II) rear-glass allowance, the front side windows must allow at least SEVENTY percent, not merely 27%.

Colorado offers a trade rather than a fixed figure. Under (1)(a)(I) every window except the windshield must allow at least 27%. Under (1)(a)(II) the windows to the rear of the driver may go below 27% — with NO stated floor — so long as the front side windows and the windshield both allow at least 70%. Rendering Colorado as a flat "27% rear" state suppresses a lawful configuration; rendering it as "unlimited rear" without the 70% front condition publishes an unlawful one.

The default figure. Colorado draws no line at the front seat and no line by vehicle class — (1)(a)(I) reaches "any window, except the windshield". Colorado offers a trade rather than a fixed figure. Under (1)(a)(I) every window except the windshield must allow at least 27%. Under (1)(a)(II) the windows to the rear of the driver may go below 27% — with NO stated floor — so long as the front side windows and the windshield both allow at least 70%. Rendering Colorado as a flat "27% rear" state suppresses a lawful configuration; rendering it as "unlimited rear" without the 70% front condition publishes an unlawful one.

The rear window falls under the general "any window, except the windshield" duty in (1)(a)(I). Colorado offers a trade rather than a fixed figure. Under (1)(a)(I) every window except the windshield must allow at least 27%. Under (1)(a)(II) the windows to the rear of the driver may go below 27% — with NO stated floor — so long as the front side windows and the windshield both allow at least 70%. Rendering Colorado as a flat "27% rear" state suppresses a lawful configuration; rendering it as "unlimited rear" without the 70% front condition publishes an unlawful one.

(1)(d) reads in full: "No material shall be used on any window in the motor vehicle that presents a metallic or mirrored appearance." The bar is absolute rather than a ceiling, so there is no percentage at which a mirrored film becomes lawful. "Metallic or mirrored appearance" also appears inside the (1)(a)(I) transmittance clause, which independently prohibits it on any window except the windshield.

The (1)(d) prohibition reaches "any window in the motor vehicle" and is not lifted by the (1)(a)(II) rear-glass election, which relieves only the transmittance duty. So a vehicle taking the 70%-front trade may run the rear glass arbitrarily dark but still may not run it mirrored.

(1)(b)(II) reads in full: "The material is not red or amber in color, nor does it affect perception of primary colors or otherwise distort vision or contain lettering that distorts or obstructs vision;". It sits inside the windshield-strip permission in (1)(b), so it does not reach the side or rear glass — where the only constraints are the 27% figure and the metallic/mirrored bar. (1)(b)(III) adds a glare condition: the material "does not reflect sunlight or headlight glare into the eyes of occupants of oncoming or preceding vehicles to any greater extent than the windshield without the material."