Vermont Window Tint Law 2026
Vermont publishes no visible-light-transmittance percentage we have been able to establish for an ordinary passenger car, so this page shows what its law does say and marks the missing figures as gaps rather than guessing at them.
The limits at a glance
Vermont sets the same limits for passenger cars and for SUVs, vans and trucks, so there is nothing to switch between.
This state regulates this glass in words rather than a percentage. There is no figure to filter film against, and we will not translate a written standard into a number.
Every Vermont tint rule we track
| Rule | Applies to | What the law says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windshield strip — how dark the strip may be | All vehicles | No VLT figure, because no tinted windshield strip is permitted at all. Aftermarket material may not be adhered on or over any transparent part of the windshield outside the small corner spaces subsection (b) allows.DetailVermont states NO light-transmittance percentage anywhere in §1125. The statute regulates whether a window is obstructed, not how dark it is, so any number attributed to Vermont is invented. | 23 V.S.A. §1125(a) — Vermont Statutes · read “a person shall not operate a motor vehicle on which material or items have been painted or adhered on or over, or hung in back of, any transparent part of a motor vehicle windshield” |
| Windshield strip — how far down it may extend | All vehicles | No tinted strip is authorized. The subsection (b) exceptions are small corner spaces for stickers, signs and equipment — not a tint band: 4 inches by 12 inches in the lower right-hand corner, 2 inches by 2½ inches in the upper left-hand corner, plus dealer and government-equipment allowances.DetailRecorded affirmatively because these inch measurements are exactly the kind of figure that gets mistaken for a windshield tint allowance. They are not one: they are located in CORNERS (lower right, upper left) rather than along the top edge, they are tiny, and they exist for stickers and inspection documents. Vermont has no AS-1 rule and no top-of-windshield band. Contrast Massachusetts, whose 6-inch allowance genuinely does run "along the top of the windshield". | 23 V.S.A. §1125(b) — Vermont Statutes · read “Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a person may operate a motor vehicle with material or items painted or adhered on or over, or hung in back of, the windshield, vent windows, or side windows: (1) in a space not over four inches high and 12 inches long in the lower right-hand corner of the windshield; (2) in such space as the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may specify for location of any sticker required by governmental regulation; (3) in a space not over two inches high and two and one-half inches long in the upper left-hand corner of the windshield;” |
| Windshield below the strip | All vehicles | unclear No published figure Under review — this dimension is still under review. This is a gap in our research, and it says nothing about what Vermont requires here; the state may set its rule in words rather than a percentage. | — |
| Front side windows | All vehicles | No percentage. Aftermarket tint on the vent windows and the side windows immediately left and right of the operator is prohibited outright: material may not be painted or adhered on or over any transparent part of those windows. Only the subsection (c) medical exemption can authorize shading or tinting there.DetailVermont states NO light-transmittance percentage anywhere in §1125. The statute regulates whether a window is obstructed, not how dark it is, so any number attributed to Vermont is invented. The prohibition reaches tint film because film is material "adhered on or over" a transparent part of the window. Subsection (c) corroborates that reading: it authorizes "window shading or tinting" on precisely "the vent windows or side windows located immediately to the left and right of the operator" as the content of a MEDICAL exemption, which presupposes those windows are otherwise off limits. Vermont is therefore stricter than any percentage state at the front — a 70% film is unlawful here and lawful in New Hampshire. | 23 V.S.A. §1125(a) — Vermont Statutes · read “Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person shall not operate a motor vehicle on which material or items have been painted or adhered on or over, or hung in back of, any transparent part of a motor vehicle windshield, vent windows, or side windows located immediately to the left and right of the operator.” |
| Back side windows | All vehicles | confirmed The rear side windows may be obstructed — with no darkness limit stated — PROVIDED the vehicle carries a securely attached mirror on each side giving the operator a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides. Without those mirrors they may not be obstructed at all. requires a securely attached mirror on each side giving a clear view to the rear and both sides Detail23 V.S.A. §1125(d): "The rear side windows and the back window may be obstructed only if the motor vehicle is equipped on each side with a securely attached mirror, which provides the operator with a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides of the motor vehicle." The permission is CONDITIONAL and the mirror standard is unusually demanding — a clear view in the rear AND on both sides, from a securely attached mirror on each side. This is a CONDITIONAL absence of a rule, with the condition carried on the row. Note the striking asymmetry in Vermont: the front is effectively closed to any aftermarket tint while the rear is open to unlimited darkness once the mirrors are fitted. | 23 V.S.A. §1125(d) — Vermont Statutes · read “The rear side windows and the back window may be obstructed only if the motor vehicle is equipped on each side with a securely attached mirror, which provides the operator with a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides of the motor vehicle.” |
| Rear window | All vehicles | confirmed The back window may be obstructed — with no darkness limit stated — PROVIDED the vehicle carries a securely attached mirror on each side giving the operator a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides. Without those mirrors it may not be obstructed at all. requires a securely attached mirror on each side giving a clear view to the rear and both sides Detail23 V.S.A. §1125(d): "The rear side windows and the back window may be obstructed only if the motor vehicle is equipped on each side with a securely attached mirror, which provides the operator with a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides of the motor vehicle." The permission is CONDITIONAL and the mirror standard is unusually demanding — a clear view in the rear AND on both sides, from a securely attached mirror on each side. The rear side windows and the back window are governed by the same sentence on the same condition. | 23 V.S.A. §1125(d) — Vermont Statutes · read “The rear side windows and the back window may be obstructed only if the motor vehicle is equipped on each side with a securely attached mirror, which provides the operator with a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides of the motor vehicle.” |
| Reflectivity — front side windows | All vehicles | unclear No published figure Under review — the official sources we read state no figure for this. This is a gap in our research, and it says nothing about what Vermont requires here; the state may set its rule in words rather than a percentage. Not addressed in 23 V.S.A. §1125. Vermont states no reflectance percentage and no ban on reflective material — the section speaks only to material painted, adhered or hung, and to obstruction. Neither a Montana-style cap nor a Maine-style categorical prohibition has a Vermont counterpart here. No reflectance rule is asserted either way. | — |
| Reflectivity — back side windows | All vehicles | unclear No published figure Under review — the official sources we read state no figure for this. This is a gap in our research, and it says nothing about what Vermont requires here; the state may set its rule in words rather than a percentage. Not addressed in 23 V.S.A. §1125, for the same reason as reflectivity_front. | — |
| Medical exemption | All vehicles | RequiredDetailA discretionary Commissioner-granted exemption on a physician OR optometrist certification, renewed every four years — except that where the certifier has previously certified the condition "both permanent and stable", the applicant may renew without a new signed form. Three duties attach that no other state extracted so far imposes: (1) the permitted shading is limited to "the vent windows or side windows located immediately to the left and right of the operator", so it buys nothing elsewhere; (2) the exemption "shall terminate upon the transfer of the approved vehicle and at that time the applicable window tinting shall be removed by the seller" — a removal duty falling on the SELLER; and (3) "if the material described in this subsection tears or bubbles or is otherwise worn to prohibit clear vision, it shall be removed or replaced." A maintenance obligation on the film itself is unique in this dataset. | 23 V.S.A. §1125(c) — Vermont Statutes · read “The Commissioner may grant an exemption to the prohibition of this section upon application from a person required for medical reasons to be shielded from the rays of the sun and who attaches to the application a document signed by a licensed physician or optometrist certifying that shielding from the rays of the sun is a medical necessity. The physician or optometrist certification shall be renewed every four years.” |
| Certification sticker / label | All vehicles | unclear No published figure Under review — the official sources we read state no figure for this. This is a gap in our research, and it says nothing about what Vermont requires here; the state may set its rule in words rather than a percentage. Not addressed in 23 V.S.A. §1125. No labelling, marking or certification duty is imposed on manufacturers or installers. The only document in the section is the medical exemption application to the Commissioner, which is recorded on medical_exemption rather than here. | — |
| Restricted colors | All vehicles | unclear No published figure Under review — the official sources we read state no figure for this. This is a gap in our research, and it says nothing about what Vermont requires here; the state may set its rule in words rather than a percentage. Not addressed in 23 V.S.A. §1125. No colour restriction appears anywhere in the section — no red/yellow/amber bar. Consistent with the statute's design: it regulates obstruction rather than the optical properties of film. | — |
| Side mirrors required if the rear window is tinted | All vehicles | RequiredDetailThe mirrors are the PRICE of obstructing the rear glass, as in Maine and North Dakota rather than West Virginia's free-standing duty. Vermont's performance standard is the strictest of the mirror states observed: North Dakota asks for a view 200 feet to the rear, Maine and Massachusetts for "a clear view of the highway behind", while Vermont requires a clear view "in the rear and on both sides". | 23 V.S.A. §1125(d) — Vermont Statutes · read “The rear side windows and the back window may be obstructed only if the motor vehicle is equipped on each side with a securely attached mirror, which provides the operator with a clear view of the roadway in the rear and on both sides of the motor vehicle.” |
This state publishes no light-transmittance figure for this glass, so there is no percentage to match a film against. Other rules — colour, reflectivity, obstruction — can still apply, so we are not going to present a shelf as though nothing does.
Sources
- 23 V.S.A. §1125(a) — Vermont Statutes, read
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