As the modern day car industry has improved and its targets shifting from mere efficiency to performance and appeal among other things, window tinting has become one of the frontiers that has witnessed unprecedented evolution. This is true in other countries and indeed the United States.
For folks living in Utah moving with this trend, it is important that you have acquainted yourself with state law prior to making decisions on the ways to respond.
This is the case because America being governed under the federal form of government, some aspects of life in this case window tinting are left to the local authorities to oversee.
Moreover, Utah window tinting regulations have been evolving overtime and so new standards have been introduced to replace others overtime.
And so, it is easy to misread a former law as the one being in place instead. For instance, while front side windows VLT was once at 45%, Senate Bill 149 has since adjusted it to 35% as we will soon see. Mindful of this, I have done my due diligence in the research to make sure that the picture that the article captures is a holistic one.
The specific details here rotate around the general requisites under window tint darkness and window tint reflections, the exceptions there to, enforcement of these laws to mention but a few. I have also deliberately adopted a friendly language to make sure that no one is alienated whilst reading.
I mean, everyone knows how lawyers tend to present themselves as speaking complicated English which is something that at times undermines their work as they become captured by a bubble of their own. Otherwise, I hope you reading through. And, I am always happy to hear from you so do not hesitate to comment at the end.
Utah Window Tinting Darkness Laws
Window tint darkness is one of two major branches of window tinting. It is also what comes to the mind of most people when you talk about window tinting. Indeed, the way it goes about its functioning is rather straight forward i.e. it blocks light rays and heat from penetrating through the window on which it is attached.
Like its name suggests, this tint is dark indeed so much so that you will not miss it if is used on a car.
The degree of darkness here is quantified in what has come to be known as Visible Light Transmission, VLT. Visible light transmission is measured in terms of percentages and the higher the percentage said to exist in a window, the lesser the amount of light it allows through to the car.
A car whose windows are tinted in 90% VLT therefore, will be much darker and cooler on the inside keeping all other factors constant.
Prior to knowing the percentage VLT asked of different car by the law however, one ought to ask themselves the question of how those are arrived at by law makers and generally, there are two answers.
The first regards the type of car that you would be looking at in a given situation. The determining aspects could be because of the way such a vehicle’s body is structured which makes it prone or averting of certain risks when particular tinting is used on it.
Once we have self-driving cars for example, the question of a driver’s need to see through the windshield might not be one to worry about anymore.
As for what it is that the car does, it is not difficult to assume that legislators are going to be more conservative with tinting a car in a way they deem risky if it carries more people since the lives involved would have increased.
VLT is also usually influenced heavily by the position of a window on a car i.e. for some windows, law makers are reluctant to have them darkened because of the other roles that they play beyond regulating the light that enters the car.
Again, the windshield almost always has more VLT percentage requirements universally because much of the work that the driver does is heavily dependent on it.
Important to realize, is that different legal instruments adopt the two determinants differently with some considering both whereas others factor in both. For Utah, only the positioning of the car windows matters.
That is to say that regardless of the car you drive, the same VLT percentage requirements apply. To be sure, variations of cars include; sedans, vans, SUVs etc.
Here is how the VLT requirements in Utah appear then;
Windshield: tinting is allowed only for the top five inches of the screen.
Front side windows: a minimum of 35% VLT must be allowed in.
Backside windows: there is no restrictions on the VLT percentage to be used i.e. it could be completely dark.
Rear window: there is no restrictions on the VLT percentage to be used i.e. it could be completely dark.
Utah Window Tinting Reflection Laws
Window tint reflection is the other part of window tinting. It is also not one that many people know about. It is very effective though and I would highly encourage you to try it out if at all you would like the benefits of tinting but also find that you are not a fun of window tint darkness.
This because the advantages remain the same. The only difference really is about how they are obtained. Window tint reflection is the opposite of window tint darkness by this account i.e. while the latter mechanism blocks some portion of light from entering into the car, window tinting reflection deflects the said light instead.
The standard required of drivers under of window tint reflection therefore will be a direct outcome of how much light the tinting used gets to reflect.
As you may realize, reflecting light away can mean to have its difficulties because in those alternative places where it goes, it can meet other road users thereby becoming especially disruptive and therefore distractive to them if it is too bright. This is why window tint regulation is salient.
Moreover, note that under tint darkness, regulation is protecting someone from themselves i.e. the primary person to suffer side effects is the owner of the car say when the light coming from the windshield is not enough and so they drive off the way and fall in a ditch.
With window tint reflection though, the situation is made worse because of how things get to involve innocent third parties even when they would have done all that is required of them under the law.
That said, what determines which amount of tint may be used under reflection law is no different from the factors discussed under window tint darkness. The first being that the buildup of certain cars as opposed to others makes it more rational to insist that they use less reflective tint.
Consider as a case in point vehicles with bigger windows there making them to naturally reflect more light than most cars.
The position of a window on a vehicle makes a difference too. The fact that you are more likely to have drivers in other cars facing directly through your car’s windshield and rear window for example depending on whether they are coming from behind you or are driving in the opposite directions makes these windows especially delicate under window reflection.
Utah has nonetheless disregarded all these two aspects and made its provisions general in that they apply to all cars and all windows in the same way.
To be more specific, the state prohibits all mirrored as well as metallic tint reflection films. As such, you cannot use silver, gold or copper tint in Utah.
Other Utah Window Tinting Laws
Now that you know what is entailed in Utah’s window tint darkness and tint reflection regulations, you are quite well placed with the most part of what you should know.
That said though, there are still a couple more things that you should also know. I am not seeking in this section to share everything the law says (as there would be no difference between reading the article and the laws themselves) but rather the sections that you cannot afford to miss out on.
- Stickers and Certificates: stickers in the context of tinting refer to small materials attached to windows of cars to signify that an individual’s car was tinted in accordance to what the law requires. To prove this, they will carry VLT figures for example.
Certificates on the other hand are declarative documents where the manufacturers of film attest to the fact that the tint films that they have given out are in compliance with the expectations of state laws.
Often, states will require that a car owner has at least one of the documents so as to help with accountability purposes. In Utah’s case however, none of this is required. Note that this does not mean that if your car’s tint is found not to be in tandem with the legal specifics you won’t be punished.
- Variance desecration: the VLT facts sated prior notwithstanding, drivers are allowed a room of 5% below them if they cannot meet the legal standard. In practice, this only applies to the front side windows i.e. a minimum of 30% VLT should be used.
- Side mirrors: Utah makes it mandatory for a car that tints its rear window up to 0% VLT to also have both side mirrors. This is a reasonable requirement if one is to be honest since the side mirrors will now serve to be in the place of the rear window in terms of helping the driver establish who is behind him.
As anyone who has driven a car knows, when on the road, it is not just about you. Every now and then, you have to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing.
- Restricted colors: if we are to read the provisions of law in a strict sense, then the state of Utah does not limit usage of any colors whatsoever when it comes to tinting. When one recalls that under tint reflection we saw that metallic tint is not permitted, then they will quickly realize that some colors are automatically cut out as a result.
That said though, Utah would still be less restrictive in this case as there are many states that will not only ban metal reflection but also go a step further to ban particular colors (usually red and amber).
- Medical exceptions: Utah allows for medical exemptions in cases of individuals who due to their health conditions cannot comfortably work under the general standard. Common examples of these instance are folks for whom too much light is not good for their eyes or those for whom their skins ought to be kept out of heat rays.
It might not be that easy to secure an exemption since the VLT percentage required in Utah is already significantly low but that should not deter you from going ahead and filing an application. The same should however, be accompanied by documentation from a certified clinician.
- Penalties. As you might know, wherever there is a crime, there is a punishment too and this is true as well when it comes to the violation of Utah window tinting laws. You should be careful then to ensure that your car window tint complies with the stipulations shared earlier now that you know what is required of you.
That said, Utah punishment is one of the slightest ones you can ever meet anywhere in America. First, only a fine can be subjected to one caught breaking the law unlike some states where jail term is possible too. Even then, the fine is just $50.
It should however be said that if the fine is issued and you simply pay it without removing or replace your car tint then you will still be fined whenever you meet up with law enforcement officials and they determine that once more that your tint does not comply with what the law asks. Police will establish this by placing short hand devices on the windows. These will in return read the VLT levels on the tint.
While stickers and certificates are not a requisite as explained already, sometimes it can be helpful if you have them on you during such checkups. If the windows are not in compliance with the law for instance, but then your sticker shows that the manufacturers said it did, then the punishment you would have faced shifts to them instead.
Others
Many people do not realize that laws do not operate in the vacuum. This is something that always baffles me though so I always try to approach things differently.
Keeping with that theme, here are some ideas which though are not exactly from the legislation books should prove useful as you go out to work on your vehicle’s tinting.
- Subtle benefits of tinting: I hope this article did not give you the impression that Utah’s tinting law are restrictive. In case you were second guessing whether you should go ahead and tint your car however, I thought you should know that tinting is not just about blocking light.
Did you know that when there is no much heating on the inside for instance that the car does not lose its color easily and therefore appears newer than it actually is? Again, when the car is cool it means that you do not have use much of your battery and fuel on running AC functions.
- Finding a tint installing personnel: The easy way to go about this is finding out how long the options available to you have been in business. It also helps to know what people say about each of them.
Utah State Info
Taking the account of the United States, Utah is quite a big state. It covers roughly 219,000 km sq making it to come thirteenth in size. That said though, its population is rather low. At approximately 3,300,000, people thus, Utah is the tenth least populous state in the country.
This makes sense when one looks more keenly at the demographics more keenly i.e. a huge majority of the citizenry live in the Wasatch front.
At the center of this region is where the state’s capital Salt Lake City is located. Other cities include; Bountiful, Hurricane, Eagle Mountain, Saratoga, Kaysville, West Jordan, Springdale, Sandy, and American Fork.
Cities in Utah: Salt Lake City, Provo, Park City, Ogden, St. George, Moab, Orem, Vernal, Sandy, Cedar City, West Jordan, Logan, Snowbird, Bountiful, South Jordan, Lehi, Draper, West Valley City, Spanish Fork, American Fork, Kanab, Layton, Heber, Murray, Springville, Clearfield, Kiz, Pleasant Grove, Kaysville, Saratoga Springs, Herriman, Brigham City, Riverton, Hurricane, Brian Head, Tooele, Helper, Alpine, Midvale, Manti, Sego, Utah, Wendover, Canyon Cove, Price, Eagle Mountain, Springdale, Alta, Escalante, Richfield, Lindon
Counties in Utah: Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Carbon, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Rich, Salt Lake, San Juan, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch, Washington, Wayne, Weber
Tint law references:
Utah Highway Patrol FAQ: Can I have tinting on the windows of my vehicle?