Well the madness has started and the FBI is on the hunt

MAvic_South_Oz · Feb 10, 2020

Drgnfli said:
Thank you for your input - good research!

UAV flyers are running scared from all the prejudiced & unfounded fake reports & even those incorrect reports only take up some infinitesimal amount like .01%, but we have to be so much more careful while flying our toys. But, YO, I follow all the rules, use LAANC to fly near my Class D airport, check for TFRs when out in the boonies (why?), keep it within LOS, below 400' (Phooey, I keep it below 150' about 90% of the time), so why will I be "punished" in the future with an expensive "ID" requirement on my next drone? As usual, a "government" entity will make up the laws/rules/regulations that will inhibit the casual hobbyist & kill the fun of one of the greatest inventions of the century!

Oh! And BTW... All of the above words are IMHO because I have seen "government" in ACTION for a few years during my lifetime (77)! And I would say ROFLMAO about now, but it is NOT FUNNY AT ALL !...

(Thank you for listening, I'll now get off my soapbox!)
~

I refer to government now as GOVCO, they are really self interested 99% of the time, rather than those they are supposed to serve.
Personally, I find people get more cynical of GOVCO the longer they are on the planet.

It really is a struggle to imagine there has not been one, just one, drone related death at some time, somewhere.
This just seems to be expected by the sheer numbers of them Worldwide, and the sometimes careless or reckless pilot out there.

There have been some nasty injuries from drones, which can be rather awful too, like a young lad (toddler) in the UK that lost an eye when a family friend flying a drone lost control when it clipped a tree.

Toddler's eyeball sliced in half by drone propeller

An 18-month-old boy loses an eye after it is sliced in half by the propeller of a drone flown by a family friend.

www.bbc.com

Really can't recall reading any others with injuries, so even this might be low.
One unconfirmed runner in a cross country marathon in Australia was supposedly had a drone hit her on the head, as it fell from the sky.
The drone pilot has footage of her being startled and falling onto rocks or something similar, or maybe it did happen as she said.
Found that report Athlete injured after drone crash

This pilot was investigated by CASA and fined for flying within 30m of a person, not for causing injury from what I've read.
One report Air safety investigation into drone incident with triathlete and he ended up being fined AUD$1700 (about US$1137).

It's no coincidence all the new regulations coming to most airspaces Worldwide, all around the same time, many with same or very similar rules, most likely pushed by the organisation Home

Edit - I'm all for some rules, they are in place now.
Airspace and sensitive NFZs that are 'invaded' by drones can be controlled quite well with technology like DJIs Aeroscope.
What we don't need is escalated regulation and bureaucracy that impedes on a hobby that seems relatively safe at the moment.

Classic flyer · Feb 10, 2020

I agree with every body about "NO DOCUMENTED" reports of death/injury, how ever I honestly believe the FAA/GOV'T is doing this as a "RISK MANAGEMENT/MITIGATION" step to try and reduce the chances of these things actually coming to fruition...just my thoughts...be smart fly safe

MAvic_South_Oz · Feb 10, 2020

Classic flyer said:
I agree with every body about "NO DOCUMENTED" reports of death/injury, how ever I honestly believe the FAA/GOV'T is doing this as a "RISK MANAGEMENT/MITIGATION" step to try and reduce the chances of these things actually coming to fruition...just my thoughts...be smart fly safe

I agree, proactive education on rules and enforcement is great to prevent a tragedy.
Common sense dictates some sort of serious drone vs manned flight will happen one day in some way . . . when, not if.
At the moment there is very little public education, evident in the way the majority of drone news is presented, and the general non drone public’s perception of drones.
Enforcement is now reactive, and not much of it judging by the number of illegal flights posted in various video hosting sites.

E90RAW · Feb 12, 2020

dronerdave said:
Or an entitlement attitude. But I can see someone clueless out there trying to get that cool shot. They need to design a system that keeps multi rotors on the ground when flight restrictions are in place. But a good stuff fine might help to wake these people up

Oh, like keeping people off their phones texting in a car.

MAvic_South_Oz · Feb 12, 2020

E90RAW said:
Oh, like keeping people off their phones texting in a car.

A bit off track, but we'll see if that works here in the near future !!
Drivers here can't even TOUCH a phone while the motor vehicle is running, even stationary at lights or pulled over . . . the vehicle has to be parked legally off the roadway, and engine off.
We can use totally hands off bluetooth, allowed to push a button (earpiece or other) to answer etc . . . unless learners or provisional drivers.

Most of our states and territories have had mobile phone use when driving of around AUD$200 to $500 or so, but most of these have already, or are about to go to AUD$1000 !!!
That is about US$675 . . . What's a typical fine in the US for this ? Or is it still allowed in some states ?

I read last night a news article.
A bloke here was riding a horse, along an inland rural road in country New South Wales, he was on a mobile phone.
Police passed, pulled him over (lol) and proceeded to fine him for using a mobile phone while in charge of a vehicle.
( Found it Riding a horse? Don't use your phone. Yes, really )
He was probably fined the current amount for the 'offence' in NSW of AUD$344, about US$232.
The same rule applies for bikes (push bikes / bicycles) and electric mobility scooters / buggies.

Classic flyer · Feb 12, 2020

MAvic_South_Oz said:
A bit off track, but we'll see if that works here in the near future !!
Drivers here can't even TOUCH a phone while the motor vehicle is running, even stationary at lights or pulled over . . . the vehicle has to be parked legally off the roadway, and engine off.
We can use totally hands off bluetooth, allowed to push a button (earpiece or other) to answer etc . . . unless learners or provisional drivers.

Most of our states and territories have had mobile phone use when driving of around AUD$200 to $500 or so, but most of these have already, or are about to go to AUD$1000 !!!
That is about US$675 . . . What's a typical fine in the US for this ? Or is it still allowed in some states ?

I read last night a news article.
A bloke here was riding a horse, along an inland rural road in country New South Wales, he was on a mobile phone.
Police passed, pulled him over (lol) and proceeded to fine him for using a mobile phone while in charge of a vehicle.
( Found it Riding a horse? Don't use your phone. Yes, really )
He was probably fined the current amount for the 'offence' in NSW of AUD$344, about US$232.
The same rule applies for bikes (push bikes / bicycles) and electric mobility scooters / buggies.

That sir was a pretty good analogy...I myself would like to see drone fines in the $5000 dollar(US) range just to drive the point home to those who violate the law...after all , these people are the reason we're having these laws put inplace...just my opinion...be smart fly safe.

MAvic_South_Oz · Feb 12, 2020

Classic flyer said:
That sir was a pretty good analogy...I myself would like to see drone fines in the $5000 dollar(US) range just to drive the point home to those who violate the law...after all , these people are the reason we're having these laws put inplace...just my opinion...be smart fly safe.

I agree too.
If someone is caught flouting the rules, they uusally try the old 'first time your honour' thing, and it usually works.
But of course they have probably flown like that many times, and not been caught.

Here (not sure about the US and UK, other countries) I'd even like to see even some basic proactive ENFORCEMENT of particularly the major rules in busy places / airspace.
At the moment we really hear nothing, until some relatively minor incident occurs and if lucky enough to find the perpetrator.

Looking through YouTube, and I believe CASA here DO monitor this for illegal flights, I guess authorities do take some action if they find blatant flying over (within 30m or) people / crowds, over busy traffic, or in airspace they shouldn't be.
We had that thread a couple of months ago, that fellow in NZ posted about CAA there wanting his flight logs for a couple of Youtube vids (wonder how that's going, he never did come back to the thread).

Really I think the whole thing needs the automation, systems at airports and geofencing, and with some simply blatant pilots there is probably that need for remote ID so they know if they fly, they will very likely be found and dealt with.

The problem is, it's going to pile all the good pilots in with the bad, and they will pay the price (literally, and the inconvenience side of it) too, plus the pilots wanting to flout the law will quickly find ways to get around any new requirements.

We'll see ever escalating technology needed to keep up, and more bureaucracy along with it for sure.

dronerdave · Feb 12, 2020

MAvic_South_Oz said:
Really I think the whole thing needs the automation, systems at airports and geofencing, and with some simply blatant pilots there is probably that need for remote ID so they know if they fly, they will very likely be found and dealt with.

The problem is, it's going to pile all the good pilots in with the bad, and they will pay the price (literally, and the inconvenience side of it) too, plus the pilots wanting to flout the law will quickly find ways to get around any new requirements.

We'll see ever escalating technology needed to keep up, and more bureaucracy along with it for sure.

And I agree. But why can't black box type tech be incorporated into the industry that simply transmits past flight information from the multi-rotor to the necessary agencies when the drone operator flies within the FAA's receiving facilities or portable receiving equipment? Shouldn't the federal government have to front the cost of receiving stations? As long as you conform to the rules you won't have someone looking for you as you operate, or be issued a fine from past infractions. It would require setting up a registration system and probably a cost (fee) involved like we currently already have similar to 107 where each multi-rotor has its own ID. The fact is hackers and out of compliance builders will always be out there no matter what system is put in place. Those people will continue to break current or future FAA laws just as they have felt entitled to in the past. Seems like the geofencing system works pretty well for the uneducated/ignorant flier in more critical areas, so really the FAA needs to figure out how they plan to deal with out of compliance operators while at the same time placing more minimal requirements on those of us who do fly w/i compliance. And when I say w/i compliance I mean the current law, not this proposed 400' bubble rule. If the industry wants to make toy type drones that can only fly a minimal height and/or distance from the PIC, I see no reason why they can't make a multi-rotor with range/height that is governed (similar to the Tello).

E90RAW · Feb 13, 2020

MAvic_South_Oz said:
A bit off track, but we'll see if that works here in the near future !!
Drivers here can't even TOUCH a phone while the motor vehicle is running, even stationary at lights or pulled over . . . the vehicle has to be parked legally off the roadway, and engine off.
We can use totally hands off bluetooth, allowed to push a button (earpiece or other) to answer etc . . . unless learners or provisional drivers.

Most of our states and territories have had mobile phone use when driving of around AUD$200 to $500 or so, but most of these have already, or are about to go to AUD$1000 !!!
That is about US$675 . . . What's a typical fine in the US for this ? Or is it still allowed in some states ?

I read last night a news article.
A bloke here was riding a horse, along an inland rural road in country New South Wales, he was on a mobile phone.
Police passed, pulled him over (lol) and proceeded to fine him for using a mobile phone while in charge of a vehicle.
( Found it Riding a horse? Don't use your phone. Yes, really )
He was probably fined the current amount for the 'offence' in NSW of AUD$344, about US$232.
The same rule applies for bikes (push bikes / bicycles) and electric mobility scooters / buggies.

Americans have a DEEP mistrust of government. Its in our proverbial genes from way back when the king of England was ruling us. You might assume that we would assert an "existential" character so that we would not need more governmental regulation, but unfortunately not so. I do not believe more and more regulation is good as it gradually erodes our freedoms and privacy. We all need to "do the right thing" not so much because we should but because of the alternative when we dont. We have people falling into the street getting hit by cars due to looking down at their phone.( ). Anyway, back to drones. Do the right thing everyone.