Since May 29, 2025, a sedan in Hawaii can carry window tint of any darkness on its rear window and the side windows behind the driver, as long as it has outside mirrors on both sides. That's the rule trucks, vans and SUVs already had. Act 129 (H.B. 226) extended it to sedans, and changed a few other things along the way. Your front side windows are untouched: they still have to let in at least 35% of light, plus or minus 6% (section 291-21.5).
How Hawaii got here
Hawaii's tint rules go back to the 1980s (Hawaii News Now dates the first law to 1983; our records had 1989) and had barely changed since. One oddity survived all those years: a van or a pickup could run dark glass behind the driver, but a sedan parked next to it had to stay at 35%. Tint shops and their customers had been pointing that out for a long time.
H.B. 226 started out bigger. As introduced, its purpose was to lower the front side limit from 35% to 20%. The police and the Department of Transportation opposed that, and the bill was rewritten: the 35% front limit stayed, sedans got the rear-window treatment other vehicles had, and the safety side of the law was tightened in exchange. It passed in May 2025 and Governor Green signed it on May 29, effective that day.
What else changed
- Reflective colours are out. No mirrored or highly reflective finish that looks red, yellow, amber or blue from outside, on any window (section 291-21.5(b)).
- Windows down at a stop. Drivers and passengers in a tinted car must roll their windows fully down when a police officer stops them, unless a disability or a mechanical failure stops them and they cooperate another way (section 291-21.5(d)).
- Higher fines. Owners pay $300 to $550 per offence; installers $700 to $1,200, up from $500 to $1,000, and they must redo the tint legally for free (section 291-21.5(f)).
- The certificate matters more. Your installer gives you a certificate that the tint complies, and it stays in the car. If it isn't there when you're cited, the law presumes the installer broke it.
What this means for you
If you drive a sedan with two outside mirrors, you can now go as dark as you like behind the driver, the same as your neighbour's truck. Keep the front side windows at 35% or lighter, keep the installer's certificate in the glove box, and roll the windows down if you're stopped.
A warning about charts: many tint charts still show 35% for sedan back windows, which was right until May 2025. Some 2026 guides say sedan rear windows must now let in 20%. The Act sets no number for them at all.
Every rule, with the statute and the Act beside it, is on our Hawaii window tint law page.
Sources
- Hawaii Session Laws 2025, Act 129 (H.B. 226), approved May 29, 2025
- Governor's message GM 1229: bills signed on May 29, 2025
- Hawaii Revised Statutes 291-21.5 (Hawaii State Legislature)
- H.B. 226 as introduced (the 20% proposal)
- Hawaii News Now, June 2, 2025: Vehicular tinting laws in Hawaii just got an update
- Maui Now, May 17, 2025: Window tint reform bill heads to governor's desk
