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What constitutes "over" a car or person

Here in Oz the CASA define it as a cylinder 30m in diameter around people. No matter how high you are the 30m applies.
 
Kinda brings up another question. We get drone insurance for the loss of our drone. Does anyone have, or can you get liability insurance for an accident? I would assume you can, but I haven't looked at any insurance as of yet.
IMO, unless specifically excluded, your homeowners/renters insurance should provide liability coverage for your recreational drone activities. I know that mine does and it is a common HO4 policy. If you engage in commercial drone operations you should consider having insurance that covers your drone operations specifically.
 
Here in Oz the CASA define it as a cylinder 30m in diameter around people. No matter how high you are the 30m applies.
That's at least easy to interpret, but it makes some safe things illegal (flying 2m high at a distance of 25m) and some not necessarily safe things legal (flying 100m high at a distance of 31m upwind from a large crowd with a stiff breeze blowing you toward the people)
 
That is all that it takes. Do not fly along with traffic over a roadway, do not hover over or fly around people who are not directly involved with you. Do not hover over neighbors houses. We all fly across roads and over people with just about every video we take unless as stated you live in the woods or mountains. Just use that common sense. Even the new changes in the law that will allow drones to deliver packages or whatever will fly over roads and people the same as you. It's impossible not to if we are going to fly at all.
Helicopters, airplanes, crop dusters, jets, hot air balloons, para gliders, etc... all fly over people and cars. If they crash, a lot more damage will be done.
 
Helicopters, airplanes, crop dusters, jets, hot air balloons, para gliders, etc... all fly over people and cars. If they crash, a lot more damage will be done.
True, but they have airworthiness certificates, they get mandatory regularly scheduled expensive maintenance by certified airframe & powerplant mechanics, and they keep a licensed pilot on board with no possibility of radio interference causing loss of control. One of their certification requirements is to have the ability, in the event of a complete power loss, to glide (or autorotate) to a controlled landing at a safe landing spot chosen by the pilot.

We don't want to play by those rules.
 
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Here is the FAA reg covering it... takes a bit to read.
At the end of this FAA page you posted on flying over people/cars, there's a small detail that seems seismic to me, although I might have missed mention of in earlier: <<The final rule (for flying at night) updates the initial Remote Pilot knowledge test to include an operation at night knowledge area. Additionally, the final rule replaces the requirement to complete an in-person recurrent test every 24 calendar months. >>

Am I understanding this correctly that there is no longer a recurrent test every two years, but instead just "recurrent training?" Do you know the link for this? I'm less than a year away from that 'recurrent test' which now appears no longer needed. Thanks for any clarification.

Remote Pilot Knowledge Test​

The final rule updates the initial Remote Pilot knowledge test to include an operation at night knowledge area. Additionally, the final rule replaces the requirement to complete an in-person recurrent test every 24 calendar months. The updated requirement is for remote pilots to complete online recurrent training which will include an operation at night knowledge area. The online recurrent training will be offered free of charge to remote pilots.
 
Am I understanding this correctly that there is no longer a recurrent test every two years, but instead just "recurrent training?" Do you know the link for this? I'm less than a year away from that 'recurrent test' which now appears no longer needed. Thanks for any clarification.
That's correct. And the recurrent training is given on-line, free of charge. The old recurrent testing required you go to in-person to a testing center and pay a fee, similar to how you got the initial license.

Here's an official link from the FAA, with further links to more details:


Here's a link to an unofficial explanation, perhaps easier to understand.

 
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It depends. If you're flying at an altitude of 10 feet, five feet away from the edge of the traffic lane, it's probably no big deal. If you're doing it at 100', there may be more cause for concern if your drone falls from the sky for some reason and hits a moving car's windshield in the process.

That being said, I DO cross roads all the time. I just wait for the traffic to pass.
 
Kinda brings up another question. We get drone insurance for the loss of our drone. Does anyone have, or can you get liability insurance for an accident? I would assume you can, but I haven't looked at any insurance as of yet.
I just recently looked into this myself and there are options for the hull (just the drone) and/or liability up to $10,000,000. Here is video from Ken about buying insurance per flight. There is also bwifly.com which offers commercial drone insurance but haven't researched if they do policies for non-commercial as well. IMHO, if you're not going to fly over man made structures or people all the time, per flight insurance may come out cheaper. I experimented with the VeriFly app and a 1/4 mile radius over my neighborhood was $10 whereas Ken's fee in downtown Memphis, TN as you will see was $25 so I guess it considers the density and population of each fly zone you are in.
 
A common sense approach would be "Im my drone lost a prop/engine and fell out of the sky *right now* would it be possible to hit a person/car".
If the answer is yes, its too close.
 
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