Window Tinting Laws in QLD Australia
General Window Tinting Laws
Window tinting laws for your vehicle vary from state to state, but all states have a darkest legal requirement of 35% VLT.
Darkest Legal is a term that simply means that this is the darkest film you can install on your car windows that will still keep it legal and comply with road safety standards.
The Darkest Legal requirements are different for privately owned vehicles and commercial vehicles, so it is important to know your options.
Before we look at the options between Commercial and Privately owned vehicles lets quickly understand what 35% VLT means.
VLT stands for Visual Light Transmitted. A darkest legal film of 35% VLT allows 35% of the Visible light to pass through the glass and is blocking out 65%. A 20% VLT film is allowing 20% of the visible light through the glass and blocking out 80%. This means that the lower the VLT percentage the darker the film. As an example, Limousines and Ambulance’s have a VLT of 5% which is the darkest shade available in the window tinting industry.
Darkest Legal for Private Vehicles
Privately owned vehicles use to allow for only 35% to be applied to all the side windows and the rear windscreen. Within the last few years these laws has changed to allow 20% to be applied to all windows behind the two front seats. This change was made to keep it consistent with the new vehicles entering the market that already had a darker factory tint in the glass.
When you book your vehicle in for the darkest legal tint, remember that this means you can have a darker shade of 20% behind the drivers seat. Some companies may charge you extra for the 20% darker shade, but if you were quoted darkest legal and are not given the option to have darkest legal on the back portion of your vehicle then you may want to remind the shop that you wanted the darkest legal tint and not a shade lighter than darkest legal on the back portion of your vehicle.
Darkest Legal for Commercial Vehicles
The same laws apply in Queensland to commercial vehicles when tinting the front wind ups. The darkest legal shade is 35% VLT.
However, when it comes to tinting the rear part of the vehicle, commercial vehicles have the option to apply much darker shades (5%VLT) than private vehicles. Here are a few reasons why:
- Commercial vehicles such as vans carry expensive tools and cargo
- There is often a safety grate or cargo barrier between the driver and the cargo which limits visibility, therefore install a dark film is not obstructing their view.
- Many commercial vans do not have side windows, therefore applying a 5% VLT is acceptable.
- Some vehicles may opt to have signage coverage across the back half. In this case, a dark black tint may be applied to create the necessary ‘look’ that the client is looking for.
Choosing the best option for your vehicle
If you are unsure about which shade of film you need on your vehicle, your local tint shop will be able to help. If you are located in the Logan area, Optimus Tinting Solutions can assist you with your window tinting inquiries.
