With a flat 20% darkness limit on all windows of cars and no color and reflectivity limitations, New Mexico has some of the more relaxed tint laws among the 50 states. It is heartening to see a local police department declare in a Daily Times article:
“Our deputies follow state law,” said County Attorney Jim Durrett.
The police department does understand that with the intense sun of the area, tinting is necessary. In fact, a majority of Farmington’s patrol cars have tinted windows.
“Our patrol cars are not illegally tinted,” Mitchell said. “We make sure they are compliant with the ordinance. The main reason they are tinted is to protect the sensitive equipment from heat during the summer months. With the computers, cameras and radios, if it gets too warm, a patrol car can lose between $7,000 and $8,000 dollars of equipment.”
Many other regions of the country, there is the official tint laws to limit car tinting for citizens, which law enforcement and other government vehicles are not required to follow. It is nice to see that the laws are flexible enough that citizens and government can both comply with the state tint laws.
With allowed darknesses in New Mexico all the way to 20%, there should be little reason to flout the law and go for a 5% film dark film. The decreased visibility can become a driving hazard!