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UK Lockdown

You’re far away from other people. You fall over, hurt yourself, or knock yourself out. Nobody knows where you are, or even if they do you’re still away from easy access. So, now you have police, ambulance, possible mountain rescue looking for you. In reality, they’re all needed elswhere to deal with people that have caught a virus (probably no fault of their own). What you didn’t know is you are carrying the virus as not all carriers present symptoms, and now you’ve infected a bunch of emergency workers and medical staff just because you couldn’t be bothered to stay at home for a few weeks. See how this works? Stay at home. It’s not hard. Have a bit of patience and wait until it’s over. It’s too bloody cold anyway.

During the first lockdown I had to give the police a statement after witnessing a domestic violence incident. While talking to them they told me the previous weekend they'd attended an accident where a cyclist had hit a pothole, broken a leg and both arms. Several police, an ambulance and air ambulance were all required on scene during a time when there should have been minimal contact. All of them at extra risk unnecessarily.

The best part? The cyclist was from Croydon and crashed in the lanes of Surrey, well over 20 miles from his home. Yes he was within the rules as he was out exercising and hadn't driven somewhere to do so, but that's definitely not in the spirit of it.

It's frustrating to be shut at home with drones itching to get up in the air, but like most other people I'll just suck it up for now and enjoy it even more so once I can safely go out and about again - no matter how long that takes.
 
You're entitled to that view but i'll hole the exact opposite.
For many people the chances of getting injured close to home are higher than traveling a bit further for actual exercise.

Certainly my "daily exercise" puts me at far greater risk as im not running and/or walking on poorly maintained or no trails on whatever areas are near my house as opposed to properly maintained, safe areas slightly further away.
Ive got far more chance of breaking an ankle or similar by complying with the laws.

(That and outdoor transmission has been shown to be effectively 0).

The health effects from rotting away indoors for 4-5 more months are far worse than the risk of going outdoors for a few hours exercise a day.
 
I will say I was hopeing to go out for a good walk at a nice open country Park less then 15 mins away from where I live and do a bit of flying and take a few photos. But after seeing how things are going :( I am now happy to let my Battery's go into hibernation for a while and hopefully once things start to get better, wake them up and get back out again.

But for now, better to be safe and fly another day :)
 
You're entitled to that view but i'll hole the exact opposite.
For many people the chances of getting injured close to home are higher than traveling a bit further for actual exercise.

Certainly my "daily exercise" puts me at far greater risk as im not running and/or walking on poorly maintained or no trails on whatever areas are near my house as opposed to properly maintained, safe areas slightly further away.
Ive got far more chance of breaking an ankle or similar by complying with the laws.

(That and outdoor transmission has been shown to be effectively 0).

The health effects from rotting away indoors for 4-5 more months are far worse than the risk of going outdoors for a few hours exercise a day.
I agree about distance, I've had three friends recently who have slipped and broken a bone while out walking their dog straight from their house. I've crashed my bike on normal rides twice with one just being a ride into town and the other in a nearby forest a short distance from my house.

In nine years of riding bikes including all through the winter and in darkness, I've had three crashes where I've injured myself and one which I went to hospital for when I'd sprained my wrist but that was precautionary. While it is possible to have more serious injuries on the bike even though there's people in my group that ride way more than me, their experience in terms of minor injuries is mostly similar. I am still careful with managing the risk and currently not riding with any others at all even though it is allowed here and for now only leaving the house on the mountain bike which is purpose built for winter riding and safer than walking or driving (not taking the bike anywhere in the car for now), the road bike is currently confined to an indoor trainer because it is riskier taking it out in winter conditions.

I wouldn't continue unless there was almost zero chance of infection and minimal risk of injury however since those are both the case I think it's reasonable to continue.
 
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You cannot go further without traversing the local radius... so by going further you are, by definition, crossing the 'local danger zone'.
 
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You cannot go further without traversing the local radius... so by going further you are, by definition, crossing the 'local danger zone'.
That may depend largely on where you live and your local rules, for Scotland:

You can travel for local outdoor sport or exercise such as meeting another person, walking, cycling, golf or running that starts and finishes at the same place (which can be up to 5 miles from the boundary of your local authority area), as long as you abide by the rules on meeting other households.

The nearest local authority boundary to my house is around 25 miles and the furthest is well over 100 miles.
 
That may depend largely on where you live and your local rules, for Scotland:



The nearest local authority boundary to my house is around 25 miles and the furthest is well over 100 miles.

My reply was in answer to the statement that you are more likely to have an accident closer to home....
 
My reply was in answer to the statement that you are more likely to have an accident closer to home....
That's not what I said, the post upthread suggested the cyclist was reckless for being 20 miles away from home as if that increased the risk of having an accident. Which isn't the case hence I gave examples of people who had serious accidents a matter of metres away from their door step.

I assumed your post about 'traversing the local radius' and 'danger zone' were in reference to Covid regulations hence my further response pointing you can cover a reasonable distance within the rules and in some cases much further.
 
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I agree about distance, I've had three friends recently who have slipped and broken a bone while out walking their dog straight from their house. I've crashed my bike on normal rides twice with one just being a ride into town and the other in a nearby forest a short distance from my house.

In nine years of riding bikes including all through the winter and in darkness, I've had three crashes where I've injured myself and one which I went to hospital for when I'd sprained my wrist but that was precautionary. While it is possible to have more serious injuries on the bike even though there's people in my group that ride way more than me, their experience in terms of minor injuries is mostly similar. I am still careful with managing the risk and currently not riding with any others at all even though it is allowed here and for now only leaving the house on the mountain bike which is purpose built for winter riding and safer than walking or driving (not taking the bike anywhere in the car for now), the road bike is currently confined to an indoor trainer because it is riskier taking it out in winter conditions.

I wouldn't continue unless there was almost zero chance of infection and minimal risk of injury however since those are both the case I think it's reasonable to continue.

There is a valid argument here for removing people from dangerous machinery. You are wreckless and shouldn't be allowed such a contraption!
 
There is a valid argument here for removing people from dangerous machinery. You are wreckless and shouldn't be allowed such a contraption!

I am completely lost what you are talking about now or your talk about 'danger zones', what on earth are you referring to?

Going back to the topic at hand, I was reading this article about photography in general although nothing about drones:


It does mention the exemption for fishing has been removed although believes photographer as part of exercise is acceptable, flying a drone is more similar to setting up a tripod which they mention may be a bit much. That said it's quite clear people operating well within the rules are subject to criticism and our own cabinet can't even agree what the rules are.
 
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Maybe if everyone had stuck to spirit of the rules since the beginning of this last March and actually thought about why we have them instead of looking for every loophole/exemption to get around them, we'd be back to normal by now?
 
Maybe if everyone had stuck to spirit of the rules since the beginning of this last March and actually thought about why we have them instead of looking for every loophole/exemption to get around them, we'd be back to normal by now?

No-one is 'looking for loophole/exemptions' nor suggesting anyone doing anything risky or against the spirit of the rules, that's completely misunderstanding the situation. People complying with the rules and avoiding other contact is most certainly not the cause of the current lockdown.

We're having out first proper outbreak in the area at the moment and it wasn't caused by people failing to follow the spirit of the rules, it wasn't caused by people taking photos while out a walk or cycle, it wasn't caused by people flying drones and it wasn't caused by people going for a walk or cycle in their local area. It was caused by people blatantly breaking the rules and travelling hundreds of miles to this area for the snow.
 
No-one is 'looking for loophole/exemptions' nor suggesting anyone doing anything risky or against the spirit of the rules, that's completely misunderstanding the situation. People complying with the rules and avoiding other contact is most certainly not the cause of the current lockdown.

We're having out first proper outbreak in the area at the moment and it wasn't caused by people failing to follow the spirit of the rules, it wasn't caused by people taking photos while out a walk or cycle, it wasn't caused by people flying drones and it wasn't caused by people going for a walk or cycle in their local area. It was caused by people blatantly breaking the rules and travelling hundreds of miles to this area for the snow.
How do you know those people travelling hundreds of miles for the snow weren’t taking pictures, or flying drones? Also, why can people ‘blatantly’ break rules to fly drones and take photos in their area, but no to travel hundreds of miles? Breaking rules is breaking rules.
 
No-one is 'looking for loophole/exemptions' nor suggesting anyone doing anything risky or against the spirit of the rules, that's completely misunderstanding the situation. People complying with the rules and avoiding other contact is most certainly not the cause of the current lockdown.

We're having out first proper outbreak in the area at the moment and it wasn't caused by people failing to follow the spirit of the rules, it wasn't caused by people taking photos while out a walk or cycle, it wasn't caused by people flying drones and it wasn't caused by people going for a walk or cycle in their local area. It was caused by people blatantly breaking the rules and travelling hundreds of miles to this area for the snow.
I wasn't trying to imply that everyone is doing it, but the problem is that enough are doing it to make a difference, and then the rest of us who are (and have always been) obeying the rules see them getting away with it and start to think 'if they can get away with it so can I', and the whole thing snowballs out of control. :)
 
No-one is 'looking for loophole/exemptions'

They most certainly are. I've known (yes anecdotal evidence and all that) several people who will find the flimsiest excuse to travel somewhere, or drop something off to a friend or family member. The number of journey's and contacts that are not 'essential' is outstanding and completely adds to the situation we are in.

I'm sure I could have made a case for a couple of trips out with a drone over the last few months for some reason or other, but it'd be a lie to say they were essential and every extra trip out increases the risk of something going wrong, however marginally.
 
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They most certainly are. I've known (yes anecdotal evidence and all that) several people who will find the flimsiest excuse to travel somewhere, or drop something off to a friend or family member. The number of journey's and contacts that are not 'essential' is outstanding and completely adds to the situation we are in.

I'm sure I could have made a case for a couple of trips out with a drone over the last few months for some reason or other, but it'd be a lie to say they were essential and every extra trip out increases the risk of something going wrong, however marginally.

I was referring specifically to the people in this thread, the rules are quite clear that exercise is allowed so that certainly isn't a 'loophole', walking or cycling (assuming a rural area, definitely doesn't apply to anywhere busy) is extremely low risk both in terms of possible contact (I barely see anyone and certainly nowhere near them) and injury. Not anecdotal evidence and maintaining exercise is recommended:


the WHO has made the welcome announcement that cycling is encouraged, both as transport and as a way of staying healthy during the global crisis.
 
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I was referring specifically to the people in this thread, the rules are quite clear that exercise is allowed so that certainly isn't a 'loophole', walking or cycling (assuming a rural area, definitely doesn't apply to anywhere busy) is extremely low risk both in terms of possible contact (I barely see anyone and certainly nowhere near them) and injury.

I guess we've just had very different experiences - I live in a rural village just outside the M25 that most years has the Prudential cycle ride go past. During the first lockdown any Saturday or Sunday was not that different from the official event. We'd regularly see groups of 6 or 7 cycling together as well as professional teams often. In an hour I could have probably counted 300 cyclist past my window.

The village has a coffee shop that stayed open selling take-aways and the village center would often be blocked to traffic by 50 or more cyclists all in small groups but definitely not social distancing from each other all the time.

The local beauty spots were even worse for cars, every verge of patch of land would have cars parked on them while people went out for their "allowed" walk, happily walking past other people on narrow footpaths with no-one wearing a mask.

Yes individually those would all be allowed under the rules but it just increased risks unnecessarily imho, and going out with a drone wouldn't be any better.
 
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this thread is just going the same way as previous threads on this subject,in as much as there are going to be many different opinions, about the validity or success of the progressive lockdowns that we are all now in, and have been in at varying degrees of severity for almost a year now,
there seems to be one certainty in all this covid issue,and that is that close contact with each other makes it easier for the virus to be transmitted ,and avoiding such contact can and does slow that transmission down,so lets all do our best to follow the guidelines ,and then maybe one day,we will be able to go and fly whenever and wherever we want
 
I am completely lost what you are talking about now or your talk about 'danger zones', what on earth are you referring to?

Going back to the topic at hand, I was reading this article about photography in general although nothing about drones:


It does mention the exemption for fishing has been removed although believes photographer as part of exercise is acceptable, flying a drone is more similar to setting up a tripod which they mention may be a bit much. That said it's quite clear people operating well within the rules are subject to criticism and our own cabinet can't even agree what the rules are.
Read the embolded text.

You state you crashed (reckless) your bicycle (a dangerous machine).
I cannot help you find your lost sense of humour I'm afraid. In normal times I would gladly offer assistance, but travel is restricted. Bicycle travel should be especially so, see above!
 
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