Some current-source details could not be fully reconciled. Read the limitations below before relying on this summary.
New Mexico’s current official statute sets a 20% light-transmission requirement for ordinary side-and-rear sun screening material and a narrow windshield-strip allowance. Vehicle-class exceptions, labels, mirrors, and measurement details matter before installation.
Read the official sources ↓Rules by window
| Window | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Windshield | nonreflective top strip only, ending at the AS-1 line or 5 inches below the top, whichever is nearer the top. No red, yellow, or amber strip. |
| Front side | nonreflective material, at least 20% transmission, and both outside rearview mirrors. |
| Rear side | Ordinarily, nonreflective material with at least 20% transmission and both outside rearview mirrors. The transmission requirement does not apply to windows behind the driver on truck tractors, buses, recreational vehicles, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and motor homes. |
| Rear window | Ordinarily, nonreflective material with at least 20% transmission and both outside rearview mirrors. The same listed vehicle-class exception applies to transmission; it is not an unrestricted waiver of every provision. |
Which vehicles this section covers
The operation restriction applies on streets and highways to motor vehicles registered or required to be registered in New Mexico. Separately, subsection F says the section does not apply to motor vehicle glazing that complies with federal motor vehicle standards. That glazing exception should not be read as blanket permission for an aftermarket film installation.
Certification and labels
The current statute requires manufacturer certification and a permanent, legible label between film and glazing on each treated surface. The label must be no larger than 1.5 square inches, identify the manufacturer, manufacture date, and transmission percentage, and go in the lower-left corner when viewed from outside.
Medical documentation and older tint
The medical exception requires the vehicle to be registered in New Mexico in the name of the affected person or that person’s legal guardian. An affidavit signed by a physician or optometrist licensed in New Mexico must state the physical condition that makes otherwise noncompliant sun screening material necessary. The affected person or legal guardian must possess the affidavit at all times while the affected person is being transported in the vehicle. Subsection G separately exempts motor vehicles that had sun screening material on the windshield or any window before July 1, 1997.
Do not mistake a final bill for an enacted law
The 2023 HB286 proposal would have changed windshield rules, but the official history records a pocket veto. Its final-version PDF is not permission to apply 70% film to the entire windshield.
Check film and installed glass
The current statute regulates sun screening material used in conjunction with safety glazing and defines transmission through a product or material. The inspected text does not specify enforcement meter practice or definitively resolve film-alone versus finished-window testing. Have the installer confirm the applicable testing basis rather than relying solely on a shade name.
Before you rely on this guide
This is general information, not legal advice, a vehicle inspection, or permission to install a particular film. Exceptions and enforcement procedures can depend on your circumstances.
- The current official statute was checked through the publisher’s stated 2026 legislative coverage. The inspected provision does not specify enforcement meter practice, tolerances, or definitively resolve film-alone versus finished-window measurement.
- Confirm the vehicle classification and how the tint will be measured before choosing an installation. Do not use a calculator estimate as a legal pass-or-fail result for New Mexico; the applicable testing basis remains unresolved in this review.
The research date shows when the sources were checked. It is not the date the law took effect, and it does not mean this page is monitored continuously. This research preview still awaits human editorial review; we do not claim attorney review.
Official sources
- NMOneSource: current NMSA 66-3-846.1 ↗
Current official consolidated statute read October 14, 2026. History lists Laws 1997, chapter 151, section 2 and Laws 2018, chapter 74, section 33; annotation gives July 1, 2018 effective date for last listed amendment.
- New Mexico Compilation Commission: source coverage ↗
Publisher says New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978 is current through the Second Session of the Fifty-Seventh Legislature (2026).
- New Mexico 2018 HB19 final text, section 33 ↗
Official enacted-text source for 66-3-846.1, printed pages 51–55; the 2018 law date is not this guide’s research date.
- New Mexico Legislature: 2018 HB19 status ↗
Official history confirms chaptering as Chapter 74; subject index also identifies the tint provision among enacted changes.
- New Mexico Legislature: 2023 HB286 status ↗
Official history records a pocket veto, despite passage by both chambers.
- New Mexico courts: official statutes access ↗
Identifies NMOneSource as the official master legal research database. Current Chapter 66 was successfully read in this review.
- City of Hobbs: New Mexico Uniform Traffic Ordinance, revised June 2025 ↗
Government-hosted corroboration in section 12-10-1.13, printed pages X-7–X-9 (PDF pages 173–175), expressly cross-referenced to 66-3-846.1. It retains the 20% rule, windshield band, labels, and exceptions. This municipal-code publication is not a substitute for the statewide master consolidated statute.
- New Mexico Compilation Commission: official legal publisher ↗
The official publisher links NMOneSource. Chapter 66 and section 66-3-846.1 were read for this review; the separate measurement questions described above remain unresolved.