h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In Salt Lake City Utah, USA if you do not have a licence plate affixed to the front bumper of your vehicle you run the risk of having your car towed. Even cars that do not have a place to mount a plate are subject to this same law. I know some people have had to either drill holes in thier brand new car or they would lose the car to an impound lot. In this state you can drive without a seatbelt if your car did not come standard with it, but you had better have a licence plate on the fromt of your car.

This realtes to a funny story that happened to me, in my younger, less responsible and utterly broke, years.

I had a car that I couldn't afford to insure, but I still occasionally drove it around anyway. Well, as you can imagine, I eventually got caught. And the officer who ticketed me decided to confiscate my license plate as punishment (as well as impounding my car, sadly). However, he was unaware that in Maine, where my car had been previously registered, they require two plates, on one the back and one on the front. In Massachusetts, they only have the rear one. So he only took my rear plate, completely ignoreing the front one.

So as soon as I got my car out of the impound, I simply switched the front plate onto the rear, and drove off.

I'd just love to see the bureaucracy if they towed my car for no front plate. Pennsylvania doesn't have front plates. (Apparently there are more states than not that have front as well as rear, but it's a slim majority.) I can just imagine what they'd say when I told them that. "Doesn't matter, you don't have a front plate, you pay this fine."