HF 2024 (LSB 5681YH (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 2024

BY  STONE

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to motor vehicle window tint, and making penalties applicable. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.438, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  A person shall not operate on the highway a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a any of the following:
   (1)  A front windshield that meets a minimum standard of transparency of less than seventy percent light transmittance.
   (2)  A side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which is excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult for a person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor vehicle through the windshield, window, or sidewing, that meets a minimum standard of transparency of less than fifty percent light transmittance.
   (3)  A side or rear window other than as described in subparagraph (2) that meets a minimum standard of transparency of less than thirty-five percent light transmittance.
   a.  The department shall adopt rules establishing a minimum measurable standard of transparency which shall apply to violations of this subsection.
   b.  This subsection does not apply to a person who operates a motor vehicle owned or leased by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency if the operation is part of the person’s official duties.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, a person is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which is excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult for a person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor vehicle through the window. Under rules adopted by the department of transportation (DOT) (761 IAC 450.5), “excessively dark or reflective” means the window does not meet a minimum standard of transparency of 70 percent light transmittance. However, the requirement does not apply to a person who operates a motor vehicle owned or leased by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency if the operation is part of the person’s official duties.
   This bill strikes the authority of the DOT to adopt rules establishing a minimum measurable standard of transparency and instead prohibits a person from operating on the highway a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield that meets a minimum standard of transparency of less than 70 percent light transmittance, a side window or sidewing immediately beside or forward of the driver, as applicable, that meets a minimum standard of transparency of less than 50 percent light transmittance, and a side or rear window other than a side window or sidewing immediately beside or forward of the driver to meet a minimum standard of transparency of at least 35 percent light transmittance. Under current law, the light transmittance of such other windows is not regulated.
   A violation of Code section 321.438 is punishable by a scheduled fine of $70.