Remove blanket laws for drones!

Remove blanket laws for drones!

Started
January 29, 2020
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This petition had 1 supporter

Why this petition matters

Started by Ian Chandra

I find that the current drone laws are oversimplified. Here's my case.

The FAA and many organizations have a blanket approach on drones: they have one law to control all drones from 0.5lbs to 55lbs. To me, this absurd for two reasons.

1. Having the same regulations for a 55lb drone and a 0.5lb drone is completely ridiculous. The damage potential of the two pieces of equipment is immensely different. A 0.5lb Mavic Mini will not cause catastrophic damage to anything. A 55lb drone traveling upwards of 30mph will take out a person and cause significant damage to anything. Not to mention that they put out different amounts of sound and result in way different levels of disturbance (important for national parks). National parks quote that the sound of drones will disturb the environment and people. Sure they will if they're 55lbs. But 0.5lb Mavic Mini? Give me a break. Lightning is more disturbing than that. Even the rain is.


2. Some drones have excellent GPS position, sensors, and technology that assist the pilot in being safer. Some drones do not depend entirely on the pilot (FPV). How can you say that all these drones are the same when DJI Drones/other intelligent drones are stable and do not fall out of the sky, even when the battery goes down to zero (the drone lands safely). Homemade drones might do so because they don't have the same computer chips, etc.

An example of this. Imagine the Spark(DJI Drone) and a homemade gasoline-powered helicopter. The spark weighs just over 0.5lbs while the model gas-powered helicopter weighs around 30lbs. The spark has sensors, frontal obstacle avoidance, and GPS. It's extremely small and is battery powered. The model helicopter is gas-powered, has no sensors or GPS and is at the mercy of the pilot. Why would these two pieces of equipment be regulated in the same way?

Final point. Many places quote "privacy reasons" when they don't permit drones or UAVS with cameras. I see this as an excuse to not allow them. I'm trying to use the Mavic mini as an extension of my phone and as a glorified selfie camera at times. Why is this a privacy issue? Before phones were a thing, no one could film events that they attended. But now, they can. Phones record events and random strangers and places without any issue. Drones are basically doing the same thing but from a different angle. Why would this be a privacy issue?

Please push the FAA to revise drone laws to be more detailed and suited for each class of drones based on intelligent features and size (not just 0.5lbs to 55lbs).

Make pictures like these possible! (yes, it was taken legally)

 

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