Is It Legal to Mount a Dash Cam on Your Windshield?
The short answer
- California allows a video event recorder in a 7 inch square in the lower corner farthest from the driver, a 5 inch square in the lower corner nearest the driver, or a 5 inch square at the top center.
- A 7 inch square is 49 square inches, not 7. Guides that say "7 square inches" shrink the legal area five to sevenfold.
- Minnesota and Arizona allow driver monitoring equipment immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the rearview mirror.
- Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Texas, Florida and Wisconsin name no zone: the test is whether the camera obstructs your view, and Illinois and New York will not cite you for it alone.
- DC bars any object attached to the windshield or the mirror bracket, and New Jersey bars non-transparent material on the windshield with no camera exception.
- Behind the mirror is also where your car's forward camera looks out. Keep a dash cam clear of that window, whatever the statute permits.
Usually yes, but only where your state allows, and in a few places nowhere on the glass at all. California lets a recording camera sit in a 7 inch square in the lower corner farthest from the driver, a 5 inch square in the lower corner nearest the driver, or a 5 inch square at the top center. Minnesota and Arizona allow driver monitoring equipment immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the rearview mirror. Most other states have no camera rule, only a ban on anything that obstructs your view, and the District of Columbia's rule bars any object attached to the windshield.
What the statutes say, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
This table is built from the text of each code section, not from summaries of it. Where a state names a location, that location is the answer. Where it does not, the question is whether the camera obstructs your view, the same test an officer applies to a crack, described in how windshield equipment tickets are written.
| Jurisdiction and code section | Type of rule | Where a camera may go on the glass |
|---|---|---|
| California, Vehicle Code 26708(b)(13) | Named zones for a "video event recorder" | A 7 inch square in the lower corner farthest from the driver, a 5 inch square in the lower corner nearest the driver outside the airbag deployment zone, or a 5 inch square at the top center |
| Arizona, Revised Statutes 28-959.01 | Named zones | "Safety monitoring equipment and driver feedback" immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the rearview mirror. Separately, "signs, stickers or other materials" in a 7 inch square in the far lower corner or a 5 inch square in the near lower corner |
| Minnesota, Statutes 169.71 | Named zones | "Driver feedback and safety monitoring equipment" immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the rearview mirror. GPS units near the bottommost portion of the windshield |
| District of Columbia, 18 DCMR 2213.7 | Object ban | None. Bars any object attached to the windshield or its frame, or to the rearview mirror or its bracket |
| New Jersey, Statutes 39:3-74 | Material ban | No zone. Bars any "sign, poster, sticker or other non-transparent material" upon the front windshield other than required articles |
| Pennsylvania, 75 Pa.C.S. 4524(c) | Obstruction test | No zone. The offense is an object placed so as to "materially obstruct, obscure or impair" vision through the windshield |
| Illinois, 625 ILCS 5/12-503(c-5) | Obstruction test, secondary | No zone. Objects that "materially obstruct" are barred, but no one may be stopped solely for it |
| New York, Vehicle and Traffic Law 375(30) | Obstruction test, secondary | No zone. A summons issues only with reasonable cause to believe another law was broken |
| Texas, Transportation Code 547.613 | Obstruction test | No zone. An object on the windshield that "obstructs or reduces" the clear view is a misdemeanor |
Florida (316.2004) and Wisconsin (346.88) join the obstruction group. Wisconsin's supreme court held in State v. Houghton (2015) that its clear view rule "requires a material obstruction, even if minor", so not every object in view is a violation. The rest of each state's glass law is on its own page, for example California windshield rules, Arizona windshield rules and Minnesota windshield rules.
A 7 inch square is not 7 square inches
The most repeated error about these rules is a unit mistake. Dash cam guides describe California's and Arizona's zones as "5 square inches" and "7 square inches". The statutes say "a seven-inch square" and "a five-inch square": a square 7 inches on each side, which is 49 square inches, and one 5 inches on each side, which is 25. The misreading shrinks the legal area five to sevenfold and makes the exception sound useless.
The second error is direction. "Bottom right" is a translation of "the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver" for a left hand drive car. The rule is written relative to the driver, so the larger corner is always the passenger side.
California's zones come with conditions. Subsection (b)(13) defines a video event recorder as one that records "in a digital loop" but "saves video only when triggered by an unusual motion or crash or when operated by the driver". It may store "no more than 30 seconds before and after a triggering event", and the car must carry "a notice posted in a visible location" that a passenger's conversation may be recorded. A camera that saves every trip does not match that definition as written, so use event mode and post the notice if you rely on the exception.
In most states the test is obstruction, not location
Most codes never mention cameras. They prohibit objects that obstruct the driver's view and leave the judgment to the officer and the court. Three practical points follow.
- Outside the wiper sweep in front of you is defensible. Pennsylvania and Illinois use the word "materially", and Wisconsin's court required a material obstruction. A small camera behind the mirror or low in the passenger corner is hard to call material. The zone that matters is the driver's critical viewing area.
- Some states will not stop you for it alone. Illinois says no vehicle "shall be stopped or searched" solely on this basis, and New York's summons needs reasonable cause for another violation.
- Texas has two exemptions. Section 547.613 does not apply to "a motor vehicle that is not registered in this state" or to a commercial motor vehicle.
Two popular claims do not survive the statute text. Pennsylvania does not prohibit mounting a dash cam on the glass: 4524(c) bars objects that materially obstruct vision or "constitute a safety hazard", which is a test, not a ban. New Jersey is the stricter case, because 39:3-74 bars non-transparent material "upon the front windshield" with no size allowance and no camera exception, so a mount on New Jersey glass has no safe harbor to point to.
For the District of Columbia, the official register lists section 18-2213 as "Obstruction of Driver's View or Driving Mechanism", and its subsection 2213.7, as quoted by a DC traffic law firm, bars any object "attached to or suspended from the windshield" or from "the rear view mirror or rear view mirror bracket". That last phrase matters, because many cameras clamp to the mirror stem. See the District of Columbia page and confirm the current text before you stick anything on.
Commercial trucks have a measured federal zone
Under 49 CFR 393.60(e)(1)(ii), devices with vehicle safety technology may be mounted inside the windshield not more than 8.5 inches (216 mm) below the upper edge of the wiper swept area, or not more than 7 inches (175 mm) above its lower edge, and outside the driver's sight lines to the road, signs and signals. The definition in 393.5 names a "driver camera system" and devices containing "cameras, lidar, radar, sensors, and/or video", so a dash cam qualifies. Other antennas and similar devices stay within 6 inches of the top and outside the sweep. California adopts the federal allowance for the commercial vehicles it lists. Fleet practice is in managing glass across a fleet and semi truck windshields.
The legal spot behind the mirror is where your car's camera lives
The zone Minnesota and Arizona approve, directly behind the rearview mirror, is where cars with lane keeping and automatic braking carry the forward camera, looking through a clear window in the black frit band. Anything that intrudes into its view or reflects into its lens can degrade it, and the way the bracket fixes its aim to fractions of a degree shows how little margin there is.
Manufacturers say so. Subaru service bulletin 06-45-13R (August 2013, 2014 Forester with EyeSight) reprints the owner manual warning that "GPS receivers, radar detectors or other similar display devices must never be mounted anywhere in the gray zones of the dashboard or attached to the windshield", and names the front license plate mount as the preferred place for a toll transponder. Bulletin 12-137-12R says "glossy backed" stickers should be avoided because glare may interfere with the system.
Legal and safe for your camera are different tests. On a car with a camera behind the mirror, keep a dash cam clear of the camera window and its field of view, and prefer the passenger lower corner where your state allows it. If your owner's manual shows a keep out zone, that zone wins over the statute's permission. EyeSight calibration shows how sensitive a stereo camera is to what sits in front of it.
What happens to your dash cam when the glass is replaced
An adhesive mount bonds to the old windshield and leaves with it.
- Take the camera down first. Unclip it and free the cable from the headliner and A pillar trim, which the technician needs clear. Preparing for the appointment covers the rest.
- Wait out the cure. Do not press a mount onto new glass before the safe drive away time has passed.
- Fit a new adhesive pad. The pad on the old mount is spent.
- Re-choose the location. A different part may place the camera window or the uncoated transponder patch differently. On coated glass a transponder or GPS receiver works only in that patch, explained in antennas and transponders in the glass.
- Keep the cable off the airbag. California keeps the driver side zone "outside of an airbag deployment zone". A cable pinned across A pillar trim sits where a curtain airbag deploys; see airbags and the windshield.
If the car has a forward camera, the replacement needs a calibration anyway. A camera or transponder refitted near its window is one of the cases in when calibration is required, and the post job inspection checklist is where to confirm lane keeping behaves before accessories go back.
Where this answer stops applying
- States not in the table. Only the codes named here were read for this page. Elsewhere, assume the obstruction test until you have read your code, starting from the state rules index.
- Audio recording. Whether you may record passengers is a matter of each state's recording law, not its windshield law. Only California's mount exception mentions it.
- Inspection. An inspector may judge anything in the critical area on its own terms; see which states inspect windshields.
What to do next
Find your state in the table. If it names a zone, tape out the 5 or 7 inch square in the right corner and keep camera and mount inside it. If it uses an obstruction test, mount behind the mirror or low in the passenger corner, outside the sweep in front of you and clear of any camera window. In DC or New Jersey, a dash mounted camera is the cautious choice. If the glass is about to be replaced, read how a replacement should be done, and how calibration works if your car has a forward camera.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I legally put a dash cam in California?
Vehicle Code 26708 allows a video event recorder in a seven inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest from the driver, a five inch square in the lower corner nearest the driver and outside the airbag deployment zone, or a five inch square at the center top. It must save no more than 30 seconds either side of a triggering event, and a notice that conversations may be recorded must be posted.
Is it illegal to have a dash cam behind the rearview mirror?
Not in Minnesota or Arizona, where statutes specifically allow driver feedback and safety monitoring equipment immediately behind, slightly above or slightly below the mirror. In obstruction states it is usually the least obstructive spot. The exception is the District of Columbia, whose rule also bars objects attached to the mirror or its bracket.
Does Pennsylvania ban dash cams on the windshield?
No. Section 4524(c) of the Pennsylvania vehicle code bars objects hung, placed or attached so as to materially obstruct, obscure or impair the driver's vision through the windshield, or in a way that is a safety hazard. That is a judgment about obstruction, not a ban on cameras. A small unit behind the mirror is far easier to defend than one in front of the steering wheel.
Can a dash cam interfere with lane keeping or emergency braking?
It can if it sits in front of or near the forward camera window behind the mirror. Subaru's EyeSight owner guidance says GPS receivers, radar detectors and similar display devices must never be mounted in the marked zones or attached to the windshield. Check your own manual for a keep out area and mount the dash cam outside it.
Do I need to remove my dash cam before a windshield replacement?
Yes. The adhesive mount stays on the old glass, so take the camera down and free its cable from the headliner and pillar trim before the technician arrives. Afterwards, wait out the safe drive away time, fit a new adhesive pad, and choose the spot again, because a new part may place the camera window or transponder patch differently.