I also see at least one car without a plate every day I drive in my metropolitan area. Perhaps other areas are more rigorous. But certainly there’s also Portland (Oregon) or Berkeley (California), where the police no longer allow it:
The only time I was stopped for a missing rear plate in my ~week of waiting for new car plates a couple years ago, was once by the state police. I imagine it’s because I had a new car and they were confused about how I ended up without plates, which was definitely an unusual scenario.
I’ve seen two cars driving without plates within 5 miles of my house just this week.
Do you see police officers every single time you drive anywhere (or walk, bike, bus, whatever)? I know I don’t. And even if you do see one, they might have multiple reasons they’ll cite for why they didn’t stop X vehicle for Y infraction.
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/06/portland-police-wil...
The only time I was stopped for a missing rear plate in my ~week of waiting for new car plates a couple years ago, was once by the state police. I imagine it’s because I had a new car and they were confused about how I ended up without plates, which was definitely an unusual scenario.