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British Pilots: Poll Data Says Public Wants Strict Rules For Drones
According to the Guardian, a survey of members of the British public conducted on behalf of the British Airline Pilots Association reveals support among those surveyed for strict rules governing drone flights in urban areas, and (probably less surprising) calling for serious consquences in the form of jail sentences for those who endanger passenger aircraft with drone flights. A slice: The study, which will be presented on Monday at a drone safety summit organised by UK pilots, revealed that about a third of those polled think no one should be able to fly drones over urban areas.
Without knowing how the questions were phrased, the survey is pretty much meaningless. For example:
1) The pilot's association believes that drones present a real and tangible threat to air safety. Do you think they should be permitted to fly in areas where airplanes may be flying?
2) Do you believe that drones which have been proven to be safe should be allowed to be flown by trained individuals in urban areas?
Those two questions essentially ask the same question but will illicit opposite answers from most survey takers.
People want to be free to make their own choices and live according to their own values. However, nobody wants their neighbors to be free to do things that are threatening or disturbing. That second inclination tends to override the first, driving most people to want more laws that further restrict freedom (rather than fewer laws, or more laws that protect freedom). The end result is a steady trot towards a police state.
Not the world, but certainly Britain.