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FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

reuters.com

121–130 of 283 posts

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No matter what, there will be consequences for DIY/hobby aircraft, just because cost/weight/complexity are critical factors in a small drone. Most of the planes I fly now are wood/cardboard with a few dumb electrical components. Adding any component will make it harder for newcomers to enter the field. The FAA has decided that unregulated drone flight is an issue, and no matter what, they're going to tackle it. So I'…

I’ve already had a drone hovering outside Daughters bedroom window. Some people have very different concerns about accountability of drones.

This is very likely already illegal, depending on where you live... It violates reasonable expectations of privacy, as well as nuisance laws in many jurisdictions, and can probably be considered trespassing. Not to mention they'd need to be flying the drone within line of sight, and depending on the weight of the drone they may also need a license and spotter.

Step 1 should always be to go talk to your neighbor before escalating further, but in cases like this it seems like it would be easy enough to have the police pay them a visit too.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#124
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d pay good money for a shotgun-like device that had power enough to take down the drones foreigners like to fly meters from my face videotaping me as I walk down the beach, but not powerful enough to be dangerous to use in such contexts.

> drones foreigners like to fly meters from my face videotaping me Please explain. I'm genuinely curious.

Not the OP, but I've seen this happen in certain state and national parks.

I started chucking rocks at a "drone" flown by a tourist that got in my face at a state park in Arizona once. The "pilot" started shouting at me in German. He was very surprised to learn that my childhood taught me how to shout back at people in German.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#125
post #84
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that so?

I mean there is mass surveillance of basically all communication.

Little different when a drone is hanging out over your 52nd floor penthouse with an HD cam of your most of your apartment and the ability to get closer and see things in your place that you can't even see with your naked eyes.

Then I don't even have the option of throwing my phone or alexa in the fireplace.

This makes sense to me. Not sure where people are getting lost. This commenter p410n3 is clearly a cynic. Some people think the world is always listening, always watching them. But what they don't realize is they blend in with the noise because they aren't all that important. No one cares to listen to them. I don't think they like that answer though ;)

I just don't like the idea of a flying high def camera in my face that I can't grab and smash against the wall. Because it's literally flying above me out of reach.

If I had tech to destroy it. I would use that tech. I guess a gun would work if you're a good shot. They use hawks in Scotland.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#126
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ll never understand people who use drones like this, even ignoring the obvious moral and ethical issues of voyeurism they’re loud and obnoxious at the altitudes you would need to go peeping through windows. Every time I try and assuage fears laypeople have about drones and privacy there’s a story or anecdote about some dumbass who does stuff like this anyway...

If you really want to spy on somebody, you don’t use a noisy buzzing drone right outside a window, or hovering in an otherwise empty sky. Even something as crude as a smartphone on a stick could be more covert. Surprised that even tech enthusiasts are often so fearful of drones while not worried about the hundreds of cameras already filming their activities in most public places.

It's not about the public spaces, it's about private spaces.

In the scenario I wrote about above, every house in the neighborhood has a seven-foot-tall cinderblock wall around it. The guy was flying over these walls to look in the people's first-floor windows from their backyards. A cell phone on a stick isn't a problem in that scenario.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#127
post #109

Whenever I encounter people flying drones - for example at the park - I find it highly obnoxious. The buzzing of their rotors is noise pollution that ruins the peace of a park/natural area, and while I recognize the right to record in public spaces, there’s something especially creepy about a drone flying along a jogging path near you armed with the latest 4K cameras. I think drone enthusiasts don’t understand how th…

As long as there are no rules against a Harley Davidson which can be heard by anyone within a mile radius cruising down the street at 10pm (same goes for loud muscle cars, trucks etc), it seems like we shouldn't go arbitrarily restricting drone noise. With regards to cameras in public places, I'd be far more worried about somebody hiding in the bushes quietly with a DSLR that nobody knows about. At least with a drone…

It is already illegal to modify the exhaust to make your vehicle louder. Does't seem to bother cops though.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#128

Even though I don't fly over people, I retrofitted a parachute onto my DJI drone just in case. It automatically deploys if the drone loses power or control. It doesn't impact flight characteristics or battery life by much. I feel like a basic safety like this would be a prudent and more effective measure for overhead flights than self-transmitting "license plates" (which I agree are at least better than the silly int…

I am always stunned that many (most/all) of these high tech gadgets lack a LOT of safety features.

I would pay extra for a drone with such safeguards. just the prospect of less chances of ruining it would be enough.

Similarly, eskates often have a regenerative battery charging while braking which is a great idea. but it also cannot handle charging while already full. So if you go down a slope while the board is full, it can decide to shut down and let you bomb down that hill. Which sounds like an insane pitfall.

Or what happens if the board loses its connection to the remote ? I would hope that it brakes progressively but similarly it just does nothing .. so up to you to find a way to stop.

It is such a weird blind spot to have. I don't think a car manufacturer would ship a product with this kind of blind spot, is that a culture thing ? regulation ?

Anyway, fingers crossed that somebody seizes these opportunities.

Re: FAA issuing new rules to allow drones to fly over people and at night

#129
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you don't get to destroy other people's stuff just because they are annoying you with it. https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/drones/news/a17969/m...

right, but that was on the dude's property, not a public beach. also it was in kentucky.

Even on a public beach, it could be harassment. IANAL, but it might even qualify as assault.
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