My state requires a front plate as well. However, my last six cars haven't had one. I've never been pulled over for it. I think most officers just understand because they themselves wouldn't put one on a sports, muscle, or grand touring car. I'll pay the ticket someday if I have to but never ruining the front of this car with a plate.

I can only offer this thought. If your state requires a front license plate and it’s not there, you are, for all intents and purposes, providing a legitimate reason for a peace officer to pull you over. What happens after the contact is on you. For example, you’ve been out to dinner, had a cocktail, or four, with dinner. You feel in control because you’ve built of a tolerance for alcoholic beverages over the years. A bored police officer, or maybe a brand new one pulls you over because you don’t have a front license plate. He, or she, smells the odor of an alcoholic beverage as you talk, next thing you’re out of the car, doing a field sobriety test, or worse, they have you blow on-the-spot. That missing license plate, legitimate probable cause for the stop, is going to cost you a fortune, $10K minimum. And for those of you with security clearances or careers where alcohol violations are really frowned upon, you just may have ended your future. Is the look of the front of your car, something you can’t even see when you’re driving it, really worth it?

I think you missed the point. This isn’t about drinking and driving, it’s simply about following existing laws. If your state requires you to have a license plate attached to the front of your car, just do it. Otherwise, you may suffer unintended consequences.