i understand the sentiment but we can't ignore history. i take no comfort in knowing that other drivers on the road have been forced to take a test to get a driver's license. true, because i understand the DL changes nothing and this government drone test will change nothing for the recreational pilot. i've been flying for months/years and i need to go back and pass a test to keep flying?
if anything it might inform pilots who just didn't know there were rules and now that they do, they might obey them. so yes i believe we will have a larger compliance but that doesn't necessarily translate into a better safety record.
my opinion is the actually drone safety record is quite stellar while the perceived drone safety record is quite deplorable. the careless and reckless flying is tremendous and the actual damage or injuries is miniscule. if the intent of the test is to get some of these rogue flyer under control and help the other drone pilots and their feelings, then yes, good job. (don't get me wrong, i understand it. if i sat there and witness someone flying over heads and blasting up to 600 feet with his back turned, i would be quite shocked myself).
if the intent of the test is to improve the safety record and cut down on the millions of dollars in property damage and the thousands and thousands of injuries and hospital visits and deaths caused by drones, that won't happen. "no those things aren't happening but what should we do, wait for them to happen then try to implement a test? the drone test will make sure we don't get there." ok, lol.
anyway, it is still my opinion that the drone test is just another method to stall and/or control the law-abiding recreational drone pilot. it will be used to issue citations, deny flights, confiscate equipment, and otherwise harass people who were never part of "the problem." flying drones was supposed to have a recreational component and a test (despite what congress says) interferes with that notion. what happens when that test one day becomes 10x harder and all drone flyers are ordered to re-cert on january 1st, 2021 or ground your plane? this is why you don't want a test in place from the get-go.