The point that is being missed is that the violation was for parking the car without a front plate. I wasn't charged with operating the car without plates. Whether I did so or not is not at issue. The only question before the court was whether there was a violation of the City statute that...
ORS 803.540 says "A person commits the offense of failure to display registration plates if the person operates, on the highways of this state, any vehicle or camper that has been assigned registration plates by this state..."
As I read that you only commit an offense if you operate a vehicle...
The State statute only requires a vehicle to have plates when in operation. The City statute only makes it violation to park a car without plates if the vehicle is required to have plates. A parked car doesn't require plates according to the State statute, so unless there is a different, City...
My car was parked on a street within the City of Portland when I was ticketed for violating section 16.20.120-R of Portland's Charter Code and Policies ("...it is unlawful to park or stop a vehicle...that is required by law to display two registration plates if a plate is not displayed on the...