^^^ the license plate frame is an okay idea, if your state allows them...
North Carolina has restrictions on license plate frames that obstruct any part of the plate lettering.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8701776/
"Next time you are sitting at a traffic light in North Carolina there is a good chance that roughly half of the motorists around you are breaking the law. Despite the fact that the law went into effect several years ago, most North Carolina motorist do not realize that their license plate cover that is displaying their favorite sports team or the license plate cover installed by their car dealership for free advertising is illegal. In fact, these license plate covers can provide law enforcement officers with sufficient reasonable suspicion to pull you over and initiate a traffic stop. Unlike other laws, such as North Carolina’s relatively new backseat-seatbelt law, the License Plate Cover Statute does not contain any statutory language that prohibits a law enforcement officer from basing reasonable suspicion to perform a traffic stop upon the alleged violation."
N.C.G.S. 20-63(g) reads as follows:
"Alteration, Disguise, or Concealment of Numbers. - Any operator of a motor vehicle who shall willfully mutilate, bend, twist, cover or cause to be covered or partially covered by any bumper, light, spare tire, tire rack, strap, or other device, or who shall paint, enamel, emboss, stamp, print, perforate, or alter or add to or cut off any part or portion of a registration plate or the figures or letters thereon, or who shall place or deposit or cause to be placed or deposited any oil, grease, or other substance upon such registration plates for the purpose of making dust adhere thereto, or who shall deface, disfigure, change, or attempt to change any letter or figure thereon, or who shall display a number plate in other than a horizontal upright position, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Any operator of a motor vehicle who shall willfully cover or cause to be covered any part or portion of a registration plate or the figures or letters thereon by any device designed or intended to prevent or interfere with the taking of a clear photograph of a registration plate by a traffic control or toll collection system using cameras commits an infraction and shall be penalized under G.S. 14-3.1. Any operator of a motor vehicle who shall otherwise intentionally cover any number or registration renewal sticker on a registration plate with any material that makes the number or registration renewal sticker illegible commits an infraction and shall be penalized under G.S. 14-3.1. Any operator of a motor vehicle who covers any registration plate with any frame or transparent, clear, or color-tinted cover that makes a number or letter included in the vehicle's registration, the State name on the plate, or a number or month on the registration renewal sticker on the plate illegible commits an infraction and shall be penalized under G.S. 14-3.1."
Thus, if your car has a license plate cover that partially obscures the plate it may be time to break out the screw driver and hang it up in the garage. Otherwise, one risks not only a traffic citation, but the sight of blue lights in the rear-view mirror as a law enforcement officer decides to conduct some further investigation on the side of the road." -source: http://www.tclaw.com/resources/item/north-carolina-s-license-plate-cover-law.html
Other states may have similar laws/statutes as well.
bryan
