Is it necessary to enable motion detection on a dash cam?
2 Answers
The motion detection feature on a dash cam should be turned on; otherwise, it will affect the normal operation of the parking monitoring function. About dash cam parking monitoring: Dash cams with parking monitoring functionality abandon the traditional method of drawing power from the cigarette lighter or USB port. Instead, they use a step-down cable to directly draw power from the ACC fuse box. After the vehicle is parked and turned off, the dash cam will automatically shut down and enter a low-power sleep mode. However, once it detects a collision or movement of objects in front, it will immediately wake up and record the surrounding footage. Function: Motion detection acts as the 'sensory organ' for the dash cam's parking monitoring. When it detects movement of objects in front, it wakes up the dash cam to record the surrounding footage. Conversely, when no movement is detected and the scene is static, the dash cam will enter sleep mode. This ensures both effective monitoring of the parked vehicle and energy efficiency, preventing the risk of battery drain.
I'm an ordinary office worker who drives to and from work and parks in commercial area parking lots. I feel much more at ease after turning on motion detection because a friend's car was once scratched while parked on the roadside, and since he didn’t have this feature enabled, nothing was recorded. Motion detection automatically monitors the surroundings when parked, recording whenever someone approaches, which helps prevent theft or document accident evidence. However, it has quite a few drawbacks, such as being triggered by wind-blown leaves, filling up the memory card in just a few days, and draining the battery quickly. I recommend enabling it in high-risk areas like near train stations or unfamiliar neighborhoods, while turning it off in safer zones like familiar parking lots. Additionally, check if the device supports low-power mode to reduce battery consumption. Overall, I think the necessity depends on individual parking habits and risk environments. Safety comes first, but don’t blindly leave it on and waste resources.
