How does a dashcam's parking mode work?
Parking mode records or monitors while the vehicle is switched off and unattended, which is when a substantial proportion of incidents — hit-and-runs in car parks, vandalism, theft — actually occur.
The problem it must solve. A dashcam normally draws power from the accessory socket, which is dead when the ignition is off. Recording while parked therefore requires a power source that persists, and the risk is draining the car battery enough to prevent starting.
The three ways of powering it:
Hardwiring kit. The most common approach. The camera is wired directly to the fuse box, taking both a switched and a constant live. Crucially, a proper kit includes low-voltage cut-off — it monitors battery voltage and disconnects the camera at a set threshold, typically around 12.0–12.4V, protecting the ability to start. This is the essential feature and the reason a hardwiring kit rather than a bare wire matters.
A dedicated dashcam battery pack, charged while driving and powering the camera when parked. Costs more, and removes any risk to the car battery entirely.
OBD port adapter, convenient but with varying cut-off behaviour.
The recording modes:
Motion detection — recording when movement is detected in frame. Produces a great deal of footage in a busy car park, much of it irrelevant.
Impact detection (G-sensor) — recording triggered by a physical jolt. Lower power use, and it misses the approach, so you may capture the impact and not the vehicle that caused it.
Time-lapse — continuous low-frame-rate recording, which covers everything at manageable file sizes and is frequently the best compromise.
Buffered recording, which retains the seconds before a trigger — genuinely important, since otherwise the useful footage is missing.
Practical points:
Heat is the main enemy. A parked car in summer gets extremely hot, and this destroys batteries and cards. Supercapacitor models tolerate heat far better than lithium ones and are worth the premium for parking use.
Use a high-endurance memory card, and check footage periodically.
Privacy and data protection rules apply to recording in public.