There are many circumstances where gathering information on various vehicles is vital. Inspecting license plates and vehicle owners are essential duties of security for some companies and organizations, both public and private. Because of this, law enforcement organizations like the police and other security forces, court employees, attorneys, building and office gatekeepers, and private security, face many challenges.
Also people who work for auto dealerships face a lot of challenges because of the size of the industry. Customers may ask about the specifics of any negotiations, so a dealer would need to be familiar with a wide range of variables in order to set a price. Whether it was stolen, when it was manufactured, and who fixed it when a repair was necessary. Can all of this information be found with just a plate?
The answer is yes, but not quite directly. Since it serves as a means of vehicle registration, license plates are a legal aid to identify a vehicle linking it to its owner. A plate is typically mounted on the front, rear, or back. Every state in America has its own unique color scheme, seal, and format for registration numbers. And that’s not all! According to some estimates, every American owns a vehicle! Then, the challenge is to retrieve the information if:
- The owner changed and the license plate wasn’t updated
- You don’t have access to the records of the plate in that state
- You know the plate and owner, but you need extra unregistered data
- And many more situations that may appear!
First Step: Know The VIN Of Each License Plate
To solve those mysteries, a few governments have decided to standardize an additional registration code. It came in addition to the license plate from some time ago. The United States administration was one of those governments that established a set of letters and numbers for each car. In that way, anyone can discover more information about the vehicle thanks to that code.
It is a 17-character code made up entirely of letters and numbers, with no blank spaces or the letters Q, double L, or O. All vehicles have this code in a label, including motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Since the last century, some agencies have also made it appear on their parts and significant documents.
Now, there is something not even the best regulation can prevent. Although it should be simple to locate, some people have things to hide, so they hide the VIN. It can be tainted, obscured, or this might trigger other corrupt practices. Still, the license plate will be all you need to solve the problem.
Second Step: Meet APIs And Get License Plates Info
Out time brought new choices to avoid jobbery, graft and corruption. One of them is a software: Application Programming interfaces. In many areas, these systems can make our life simpler, from payments and credit cards, to real estate and vehicle traffic.
Zyla Labs has created an API for you or your company, to gather additional details on each vehicle in the US. As we expressed before, the license plate of the car will be the only input data you require. It will then provide you with information such as the model, producer, year, and more. Get VIN from License Plate API is a program that you can use to integrate with other programs and increase the amount of data you receive.
You can look up license plates from all 50 US states using this VIN API. Simply register for the Zyla Labs Hub to gain access, and you can send a request within a few minutes. You’ll receive the VIN and a ton of other information. Check it out!