Los Angeles, CA—An
undetermined but huge numbers of little camera drones are in civilian hands all
over the world. They are safe, somewhat simple to
operate and the cameras are capturing stunning images.
We can easily guess that the
number of multi-rotor drones in the USA currently far exceeds that of conventional
helicopters.
Drones for the most part are ignored by the Federal Aviation Administration unless they are used to earn money or are flown inside or too close to
airports without control tower permission. The FAA has advised the drone
owners to fly below 400 feet in order to avoid conventional aircraft.
Currently there are adequate
laws in every state that cover drones or their potential involvement in
endangerment, assault, stalking and privacy invasion.
The FAA has missed their deadlines and has all but abdicated its
responsibility to integrate these devices with other air traffic.
One federal judge has already
slapped the FAA and their ban on commercial use has been voided. That matter is currently under appeal.
Other than constant
obstruction the FAA has done nothing to encourage the collision avoidance system and
other testing by drone manufacturers.
The voracious drone market
competition shows promise of new safety hardware and software development. That certainly shows the potential of real safety benefits all
aircraft passengers and those on the ground.
Because of the FAA testing is
being done everywhere but the USA! We as a nation are falling behind.
Any safety concerns by the
FAA are without foundation. There’s
never been a remarkable accident! No
lives lost. Any injuries related to the
drones are a few cut fingers of the drone owners because of ill-advised
handling.
Public safety would be
greatly enhanced if the little drones were used instead of fixed wing planes of
helicopters.
The drones are battery
powered and environmentally friendly.
The noise from the drones is so much less than regular aircraft.
Most importantly drones are
so much cheaper to operate. The savings
to taxpayers would be huge if government agencies embraced these things.
For example automobile
accident investigations and criminal investigations on our roads rely on time
consuming diagramming by cops. If cops
used a camera drone they’d have picture perfect and to scale evidence. This can be done quickly eliminating
prolonged traffic tie-ups.
Insurance companies could
quickly survey damaged property after floods, storms and fires.
Farmers, cattle ranches and
rescue crews will all significantly benefit from using drones.
The FAA is by nature another
power and money hungry bureaucracy beast.
The FAA must realize that they can’t keep up with millions of 12
year-old boys flying drones above the roofs of their homes.
The FAA needs to back off and
stick to their original mission of dealing with manned aircraft. I don’t see much argument over measured and
reasonable regulation of drones weighing more than 55 pounds.
Politicians likewise need to
let the existing laws work instead of obstructing business and public safety
with unfounded “Chicken Little” predictions of doom and death.
The operators of the little
camera drones for the most part police themselves. They understandably don’t want to endanger
their expensive drones, cameras, the public or themselves.
For the few drone operators
that might choose to use drones criminally the local police have sufficient
manpower and resources for enforcement.
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