A front plate is required by law in Texas. You can run without one and take your chances. Unless you're acting like an idiot or your car greatly stands out, the cops have more important things to do. With more and more red light cameras going up, it's a good idea to be more careful. [:I]
This was covered in a thread a while back and a good compromise was offered. They showed a parts store plate holder that could be bent to curve it and the plate with the bumper. By doing this and mounting the top of the plate even or slightly lower than the top of the bumper, the front plate becomes less offensive.
