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Japan outlaws flying drones while drunk
- anewhnaccount2 7y agoFun ambiguity in outlaws (verb) versus outlaws (noun) in this headline.
- inflatableDodo 7y agoAlternatively, all flying drones have been outlawed in Japan and the country has run out of saki.
- hailk 7y agoWouldn't it be Japanese outlaws in case of noun? CMIW.
- wavefunction 7y agoYes, Japanese is an adjective that would modify "outlaws" while Japan is a proper noun itself.
- enriquto 7y agoYet funnier: the headline is ambiguous at the grammatical level, but the meaning is not ambiguous! In both interpretations, you have the exact same situation of people flying drones illegally while drunk in japan.
- jniedrauer 7y agoAlternative interpretation: The government of Japan was collectively drunk and completely outlawed the flying of drones
- jacobush 7y agoTrue, a correct interpretation, but so preposterous it can be ruled out. :-)
- dTal 7y agoCute, but not really. In one situation, we have people illegally flying drones drunk. It may have been illegal since forever, and people recently started doing it. In the other situation, the government recently passed a law - but that doesn't necessarily mean that anyone is breaking it.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- hyperpallium 7y agoPorco Rosso remake
- zrobotics 7y ago"We believe operating drones after consuming alcohol is as serious as (drink) driving," a Japanese transport ministry official told the AFP news agency. I'm assuming this is due to translation, surely this is hyperbolic and not serious. I don't think this is a bad law, people should be sober when piloting a drone, but how in any way is a drone comparable to the danger posed by a drunk driver?
- tehbeard 7y agoSpinning rotors and likely vector for a bystander impact is from above (i.e. Head)
- zrobotics 7y agoI know Japanese cars tend to be smaller than the monstrosities common in the US, but even a small car will weigh >1000lbs. That's enough kinetic energy that even someone in another car is at risk, whereas anyone in a car is nearly invulnerable to a consumer drone. I definitely don't want to be struck by a drone, but given the choice between a car accident and drone accident, I'll take the drone any day.
- behringer 7y agoWait are we comparing drone on car impacts now?
- zrobotics 7y agoQuite a few drunk driving deaths are car-on-car, so it seemed a reasonable comparison to make. Although I would suspect the majority of drone accidents are drone-on-human, but even in that case car-on-pedestrian is far more lethal.
- nihonde 7y agoA collision between a drone and a windshield is plenty to cause a serious accident.
- 7y ago
- simonvc 7y agoDont drink and drone.
- g105b 7y agoI was hoping to see footage of some outlaws flying drones while drunk.
- _pmf_ 7y agoAs with everything Japan does, this seems like a very sensible thing to do.
- somehnguy 7y agoHow? Is there a big problem with drunk people flying drones that I'm unaware of or something? Just nanny state nonsense
- hyperpallium 7y agoDon't Drunk Drone.
- snvzz 7y ago>Anyone failing to abide by the established regulations could face a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Surprisingly cheap. So, with financial muscle to exercise, this effectively means doing whatever you want with a drone.
- dirktheman 7y agoCheap? That's over 4600 dollar...
- snvzz 7y agoThis excludes the riffraff only. If you're, say, a business, then you can do this assuming an additional variable cost up to that amount. It's seriously cheap.
- acid_burn 7y agoDo you see businesses doing this?
- snvzz 7y agoIllegal, for-profit drone abuse? Yes, absolutely.
- dirktheman 7y agoWhere I live (The Netherlands), if you get caught driving while intoxicated it doesn't really matter if you're operating a business vehicle or not (except lorry/bus drivers for obvious reasons). I don't see why operating a drone while being intoxicated AND on the job should be fined higher than doing the same in your free time. I still think 4600 dollars is pretty hefty, especially considering the risk (fairly low compared to drunk driving) and occurrance. And your argument that businesses or rich people can break the law because they can afford to... well, the same could be said about every other crime I guess.
- hugoromano 7y agoDon’t understand why countries don’t keep it simple. If you are drunk you can’t operate any type of machinery or work, wait better can’t run a country as president or prime minister. Also, I forgot, you can’t vote in any parliament. Just one law.
- drunkDrone 7y agoOf course, this neglects the reality that drones are mostly software controlled, and often fly by wire. Based on this, for some models, drunken operation would only affect the decision to activate the drone, and the location its presence is found in. Relevant as that may be, being drunk won't have nearly as much affect on the ability or quality of the flying itself. Drones can crash into things, but they kind of fly pretty good on their own, and some possess anti-collision software.
- avar 7y agoIt's unfortunate that they're outlawing it based on the weight of the drone being more than 200 grams. A soccer ball is around 450 grams, and even when it falls at terminal velocity on your head it's not going to kill you. Of course that's not true of most 450 gram drones now, since they have external spinning blades and sharp or stabby surfaces. But if they instead defined some sort of crash test one might imagine even a 2 kg drone being relatively harmless if it e.g. was cushioned by styrofoam and had internal propellers. A law that tested for the potential harm would create a market for creating safer drones.
- xfitm3 7y agoHas this been a problem in Japan?
- raiflip 7y agoJapan shouldn't really be passing laws while drunk.
- stickfigure 7y agoThis seems a little weird to me. Modern drones are pretty much autonomous vehicles that receive behavior suggestions from their controller. Unlike cars and airplanes, they don't continuously rely on reaction times to stay in control. Yes, a drunk person could pilot a drone into something, but it takes some effort. A drunk person could throw a rock at someone, but we don't ban drunks from carrying rocks. This law would sound more compelling if there was a rash of drunken drone injuries.
- mahesh_rm 7y ago"Modern drones are pretty much autonomous vehicles that receive behavior suggestions from their controller." So are modern planes. I wouldn't like my pilots to be drunk. "Yes, a drunk person could pilot a drone into something, but it takes some effort." I am not sure what drones have you been piloting: your anecdotal experience does not match mine.
- SimonPStevens 7y agoDepends on the drone. I have a commercial DJI drone that has sensors and a nice easy mode that will stop you crashing into stuff (at least forwards and backwards, there are no side sensors). But it also has a "sport" mode that disables the sensors to allow faster flight. I also have a home built racing drone that has no anti crash sensors, very little natural stabilty and can fly about twice as fast. It's insanely fun to fly, but believe me it requires very quick reactions and I crash it regular even when sober.
- bliblah 7y agoI can't wait for groups of friend to have "Designated Drone Operators" to hand over the controls to if the police ever question them as to why the machine was operating so erratically.