Can You Drive With 20 Windshield Tint At Night?

When tinting your car windows, you should consider night visibility – it is very important. Some tint levels – usually below 35% – won’t let you see clearly at night. But can you drive with 20 windshield tint at night?

Yes, you can drive with 20 windshield tint at night; however, the point remains that 20 tint is pretty dark, and you may not be able to see clearly at night. So, driving with 20 windshield tint at night is never a good idea.

Windshield tint is prohibited in some regions; if you must tint the windshield, you must keep it 70% or higher. Well, in some regions also, 35% tint is acceptable for the windshield. This article explains everything you should know about putting 20% tint on the windshield mirror.

What Does 20% Tint Mean?

Also known as visible light transmission (VLT), the tint percentage means the portion of visible light that passes through a tinted window.

Now, if you have fixed 20% window tint on your car, it simply means that only 20% of the visible light is allowed to enter your car. 

In other words, the higher the percentage of the tint in your car window, the lighter the color of the tint will be. Therefore, a 20 tint percent is much darker than a 70% or 80% tint, which is why 20% is considered illegal in most states in the US.

See Also: Can You Drive With 5% Tint at Night?

How Dark is 20% Tint?

20% tint is reasonably dark as it lets only 20% of light pass through the window of your vehicle, while blocking the remaining 80%. As a driver, you may have to compromise on visibility in this case, though it is good if you care so much about privacy. 

However, due to the visibility risk and many other reasons, most states in the US do not permit dark tints for cars, making them illegal for both driver side and passenger windows. Although some states still permit this tint on rear and back windshields.

Is It Legal to Tint The Windshield?

There’s no general rule of thumb against tinting the windshield; however, the rules for tinting vary greatly from state to state, region to region. In most states, you can apply tint up to any level on the windshield – it just has to go above the windshield’s AS1 line.

However, if you’re tinting the windshield, you should be careful to put a tint that allows you to see your blind spots. Also, you may need to upgrade your headlights to brighter bulbs if you finally settle with darker tints below 35%. Practically, the darker the tint, the more lighting you’d need to see the road clearly at night.

Can You Drive With 20 Windshield Tint At Night?

The simple answer is YES. You can drive with a 20% windshield tint at night, but you need brighter headlights and there has to be sufficient lighting on the roads too. In the absence of sufficient lighting, you’d find it very difficult to see your blind spots.

Well, it’s pretty much expected; tinting is done to keep out lighting, which it does perfectly. At night, there’s no natural lighting, you rely on artificial lighting – lots of it actually. Also, the brand you use would play a part in the thickness/darkness of your windshield tinting.

Some tints of the same level may vary in thickness/darkness due to the brand used. To truly understand if you could drive with a particular tint percentage (%), you should first apply the tint on other windows asides from the windshield.

When you drive at night, check the visibility of the tinted windows – that would tell if applying the tint on your windshield would be cool for night driving. If you can barely see through the tinted windows, apparently, it’d be a bad choice to have the same tint on your windshield.

Frequently Asked Questions

Best Tint to See Clearly At Night?

Most people would recommend 35% – 50% as the best tint percentage range for night driving. These tint levels are not too dark but would keep you from being easily seen by other road users in the daytime.

Is 35% Windshield Tint Legal?

Different states have different laws and regulations for tinting car windows. You should contact the local authorities in your state to ascertain the highest legal tint level you can get on your windshield.

Can You See Through Tinted Windows At Night

Apparently, you can. Tinting doesn’t black out your view completely – it simply reduces the amount of light that penetrates the car. However, if you’ve got tint on all windows, you would need much lighting to see clearly when driving at night.

Which is Better 20% or 35% Tint?

This is quite personal, someone may choose 35% as the best and another may go with 20%. However, the lower the percentage, the darker the tinting; you’d have poorer visibility driving with 20% tint than with 35% tint.

Is 20% window tint dark enough?

If privacy is your purpose for tinting, a 20% tint is an excellent choice. You can see through windows with a 20% tint if you’re up close, but it’s still difficult. Typically, it’s enough to deter snoopers, though. When vehicles come with a factory tint, it’s usually between 15% and 20%.

What More?

There are different reasons why people tint their car windows – majorly, it’s for privacy. Most people don’t want to be seen when they drive in the daytime or nighttime. Also, tinting is approved for popular figures, government officials, and celebrities; this is to allow them to maintain their privacy while on the roads.

So, can you drive with 20 windshield tint at night? Yes, you can, but may experience difficulties if there’s no sufficient lighting on the roads. It’d be much safer and better to have 35% tint on your windscreen and then get 20% tint on all other windows. This way, you’d see your blind spots much clearer.