NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Even though summer hasn’t officially started, the sun is hitting New Mexico hard. If you don’t already have tinted windows on your car, you might want to add them to your arsenal to beat the heat. However, you need to make sure you follow the rules of the road in New Mexico.
What kind of tint can I have?
According to New Mexico state statute 66-3-846.1, a sedan’s windshield can have a non-reflective tint above the manufacturer’s AS-1 line or its top five inches. Along with being non-reflective, the tint on the top of the windshield cannot be red, yellow, or amber in color.
For the side and rear windows, sun screening material used along with safety glazing materials of the side wings or side windows on the immediate right and left of the driver, the side windows behind the driver, and the rear window must be non-reflective. These windows must also have a light transmission rate of no less than 20%.
Is anyone exempt from these rules?
People who have a signed document from a physician or optometrist stating they have a medical condition are exempt from penalties for putting sunscreen materials on their car that violates the law. The document needs to be in the possession of the person with the physical condition, or their legal guardian.
The statute also doesn’t apply to motor vehicles with sun screening material on their car’s windows that was put on before July 1, 1997.
What are the responsibilities of window tint manufacturers?
The people who put the window tint material on the vehicle needs to certify to the Motor Vehicle Division that their materials are in compliance with the non-reflectivity and light transmission requirements. They also need to provide a label no larger than one to one-and-a-half square inch that is installed permanently and legibly between the sun screening material and each glazing surface it’s applied, and contains the manufacturer’s name, the date, and the percentage of light transmission, and is placed in the left lower corner of each glazing surface when looking from the outside.
What are the penalties for violating the tint law?
The statute says a person found not following the rules can be found guilty of a penalty assessment misdemeanor.
