Near Misses Lead To More Consumer Drone Legislation

stowie writes: Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced the Consumer Drone Safety Act that looks to shore up safety features on consumer drones and the federal laws that govern them. This bill has nothing to do with the FAA's proposed rules on small commercial drones, this is all about hobbyist drones. It's looking to regulate the maximum height for flight, the weather and time-of-day conditions for flight, and any areas where flights may be prohibited. If passed, the act would require manufacturers to update existing consumer drones to meet these requirements, potentially through an automatic software update. The bill would require safety features for new consumer drones such as Geo-fencing to govern the altitude and location of flights, collision-avoidance software, and more.

Comments

Read the bill

[koan]

Jesus some of the comments here are so fucking stupid, read the bill.

The Consumer Drone Safety Act would put in place commonsense safety precautions to minimize the risk of a disastrous mid-air collision or crash to the ground. The bill:

        Defines “consumer drones” as civil unmanned aircraft manufactured for commercial distribution and equipped with an automatic stabilization system or a camera for navigation.
                This definition does not override Section 336 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and model aircraft flown for recreational purposes would continue to be subject to the safety guidelines of a community-based organization rather than to operational regulations of the FAA.
        Directs the FAA to regulate recreational operations of consumer drones outside the programming of a nationwide community-based organization.
                These regulations shall include a maximum height for flight, the weather and time-of-day conditions for flight, and any areas or circumstances where flights may be prohibited or limited, such as near airports, in the flight paths of manned aircraft, in urban areas, or over public events where spectators are present.
        Directs the FAA to require safety features for newly manufactured consumer drones, such as geo-fencing to govern the altitude and location of flights, collision-avoidance software, precautions for the loss of a communications link, a method for pilots and air traffic control to detect and identify the drone, anti-tampering safeguards, and educational materials to be provided to the consumer.
                Requires manufacturers to update existing consumer drones to meet these requirements where feasible, such as through an automatic software update.
                Allows the FAA to exempt particular types of consumer drones from any requirement that is technologically infeasible or cost prohibitive if other operational precautions allow that type of drone to be operated safely.