While there are a lot of things to consider when buying a dash cam, whether it works while your car isn’t running is one of the most important. If you want your dash cam to keep recording even when your car’s engine is shut off, purchasing one with a parking mode function is a must. Dash cams with this feature will keep recording what’s happening around your vehicle, even after you’ve turned off the ignition. These devices have motion or impact detection sensors that activate the camera if they detect movement or something hitting your car. If someone vandalizes, burglarizes, or hits your car while it’s parked, the dash cam will record the event, giving you a video record of what happened.
Your camera will need a constant power supply to work in parking mode. There are several options for doing this, but the most common involves hardwiring the dash cam directly to your car’s electrical system, which allows the camera to keep recording when the ignition is off. You might need to hire a professional to do this, but if you have some automotive expertise and are up for a DIY challenge, you can purchase a hardwiring kit that’s compatible with your car and set it up yourself.
You may wonder if your dash cam will drain your car’s battery since it’s constantly drawing power from it while in parking mode. Most dash cams have power-saving features and built-in voltage meters that prevent this from happening or that shut the camera down if your battery’s charge gets too low.
