Thursday 2 June 2016

Time for legislation on drones?

It is only a matter of time before there is a major terrorist incident in the UK involving the use of drones. The potential for doing bad things is really quite alarming. I hadn't really given it much thought until earlier this week, when I was walking my dog. A bunch of idiots with a drone thought it would be amusing to terrorise my dog with the drone. This, in hindsight was a rather silly move, as an angry dog is a fair match for a drone. Sadly for the men in question they now have a rather chewed up drone. It was quite amusing to see them getting a good telling off from a lady who had seen the incident.

When I reflected on what happened, I thought through some of the implications and it really is quite disturbing. We've already seen incidents with planes being buzzed by drones on takeoff/landing. Now there is always the argument that terrorists and criminals will simply avoid laws, but if drones are being flown, then if there is legislation, then at least people can alert the police and some action can be taken.

Personally I'd like to see drones confined to private land, unless a license has been applied for. There are uses for drones in archetectural surveys etc, but in public places, their use should be regulated. If people understood this, and there were "no fly zones" in areas where there were public safety issues. I don't beleive this to be unreasonable.

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