# Vehicle Recognition Image API The Vehicle Recognition Image API recognizes license plates given individual images. In addition to the previous Vehicle Recognition SDK installation options, the Vehicle Recognition Image API is available upon request. The library instance should be initialized once for each thread. There is a significant initialization time (a few seconds) so you should not destroy the instance until you are finished using it. This instance is not thread-safe by design. An ALPR instance should be used on a single thread and not shared across threads. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.rekor.ai/developers/vehicle-recognition-sdk/vehicle-recognition-image-api.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.