I know that here in Washington, they will zap you for no front plates (at least here in the state capitol, they will). The Olympia PD can sometimes be a bunch of nitpicking buttmonkeys that apparently have nothing better to do than to harrass people at times.
No, I don't have a problem with law enforcement...just that department. No, I've never received a ticket from them. Why would I say these things? I'll give you a couple examples. One, at the "Lakefair" (a smaller version of Seattle's "Seafair"...a week of general goofing off with fairs, airshows, carshows, hydroplane races, etc.) carshow, one officer came INTO the show, walked around, and stopped to write a ticket to this kid for "suspension exceeding lower limits". The kid that got the ticket had a fully restored 63 Impala convertible...with HYDRAULIC suspension. So, when he got to the show, he slammed it when he parked it, as we probably all would in his shoes. The officer didn't seem to care, and wrote him the ticket anyway.
We all discussed the violation with him and told him to fight it in court, as it would be difficult to get a moving violation when you're not moving. That, and when he does drive, he raises the suspension to above legal limiits, which would invalidate the ticket. Any cop that is so bored as to actually walk into a car show and write tickets, needs a boot to the head.
Another example was the next year at the SAME CAR SHOW. Olympia PD posted a few motorcycle units outside the show, and anyone that left the show grounds by accelerating quickly, but still not breaking traction, was stopped and cited for "excessive display of speed". No, I'm not kidding. We, of course, told each and every owner of these vehicles to take it to court so long as they didn't break traction on the street, and they did. Last I heard, most of them won their cases. Last year, I didn't see ANY Olympia PD officers near the show, but rather Thurston County Sheriffs deputies. Apparently, someone in the county must be a car nut, and got tired of the PD's shenanigans.
So, do I think Olympia PD would pop someone for no front plate? You betcha they would. So, when the day comes that I acquire a Cobra, and actually finish it, I do plan on designing some sort of "stealth plate bracket" that is on an electric actuator, that I can mount on top of the
oil cooler which can be activated from the dash that would "flip" the plate up or down. It's the only solution I can see to strike a balance between aesthetics and legal conformity. But that will be a while from now.
Yup, I'm a blabbermouth........sorry.