Drones are to be required to be registered and their users must pass safety tests under new rules announced yesterday by the British Department for Transport.
Registration will be mandated for owners of drones weighing 250g or more after research found that drones as light as 400g could damage the windscreens of helicopters.
Other security measures like “geo-fencing” — GPS-based technology programmed into drones to prevent them from flying into sensitive areas such as prisons and airports — are also under consideration, a department statement said.
“Our measures prioritize protecting the public while maximizing the full potential of drones,” Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Transport Martin Callanan was to announce yesterday, according to the statement.
The rules come at a time when drone flights are skyrocketing for both personal and corporate uses, but laws have not caught up, leaving open the possibility of significant harm.
It would only take a 2kg drone to “critically” damage the windscreen of an airplane flying at high speed, according to research from the department, the British Airline Pilots Association and the British Military Aviation Authority.
“Increasingly, drones are proving vital for inspecting transport infrastructure for repair or aiding police and fire services in search and rescue operations, even helping to save lives,” Callanan was to say. “But like all technology, drones, too, can be misused. By registering drones and introducing safety awareness tests to educate users, we can reduce the inadvertent breaching of airspace restrictions to protect the public.”
The British National Air Traffic Service said in an e-mailed statement that it welcomed plans for a registration requirement and mandatory drone safety awareness.
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