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And you need a driver's license to drive a car. You also aren't allowed to be drunk while driving. These are arguments for restrictions, not against them
by rtpg 11y ago
And you need a driver's license to drive a car. You also aren't allowed to be drunk while driving.
These are arguments for restrictions, not against them
- Natsu 11y agoI don't know that we need 'restrictions' per se, but a 'drone license' sounds pretty reasonable to me, especially if the license fees are going primarily towards some kind of liability insurance.
- derefr 11y agoOne of the interesting differences: autonomous drones are already pretty common. Who gets in trouble if you buy something that is essentially an "aerial roomba" to patrol your estate, and then one day it shorts out and falls on someone? I imagine the answer is, the legal owner of the device gets in trouble, and then the owner sues the manufacturer. The only problem comes when those happen to be the same entity. Renting/licensing autonomous drones that are flown-by-wire from the manufacturer's data-centre could make things much messier.
- seanp2k2 11y agoYep, I'd think it'd be the owner held responsible first. IIRC robotic lawnmowers have been on the market for a few years. I've never heard of an incident off-hand, but I'd be surprised if no one has yet been injured by one, so there's probably a relevant court case out there somewhere. Anyone know how to search for something like that?
- themartorana 11y agoDo any licensing fees states charge go towards bettering the industry? I always think of ridiculous cosmetology licensing fees. Maybe someone can school me, but I doubt they go towards liability insurance.
- Natsu 11y agoProbably not, but there's always a first.
- seanp2k2 11y agoThey already have this, it's called AMA, and I'm a member: http://www.modelaircraft.org/membership/membership/overview.aspx http://www.modelaircraft.org/membership/membership/overview.... Pretty sure it only covers you at AMA-designated sites, though, so might not help much for this use-case. That said, I'd never think to fly my relatively-small 450-class electric heli over a crowd. Then again, people would likely run screaming if I did, since they're much less tame/stable than quads, and pulling lots of pitch definitely creates the "blade thump" which you can feel in your chest even at this size (325mm blades, so ~30" blade disc).
- greggman 11y agoPeople get knocked unconscious by baseballs. Should we license those too?
- Klinky 11y agoIs the skill level required to operate a baseball safely near a crowd the same as that of a drone?
- Jtsummers 11y agoBaseballs are not typically hit or thrown in the direction of unsuspecting individuals. If you're walking around a fairground you don't expect a quadcopter to land on your head.
- jMyles 11y agoYou expect neither a baseball nor a copter. Either hitting you is offensive.
- akerl_ 11y agoAnd when throwing baseballs into the air in crowded areas of folks not aware of flying baseballs becomes a frequent occurrence, we can look into ways to resolve that problem. Until then, lets focus on things that appear to be becoming a trend?
- fpvracing 11y agoWhere did I argue against restrictions? I would wholeheartedly welcome restrictions, as long as they are not draconian. But just so you know, there are already restrictions (in most countries) about where and how you can fly a quadcopter. People like this just choose to ignore them.
- rtpg 11y agoSorry, misread your post. I guess there might be a bit of a knowledge gap on the regulation end, let's hope that quadcopters and the like don't get too stifled because of this.