Drones appear to be the main topic surrounding controversy due to the fact that they can fly several hundred feet in the air and can be purchased by anyone regardless of their age or experience. Drones, also known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and model aircraft, are unmanned aircraft that can fly great distances and are flown by a remote control. Operating any device that can fly technically makes the operator a pilot according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Evidently enough, the main reason why people buy these drones in the first place is due to its’ capabilities of capturing video and photography from such great distances that would otherwise be impossible to the average person. For this reason, drones are gaining an overwhelming
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Numerous incidents have been reported around the world and what all these incidents appear to have in common are user error and the effects of weather conditions. Ben Popper, a seasoned drone pilot, wrote about a close call he had when his drone was caught by a gust of wind and vanished from his line of sight. After following the direction of where he assumed it landed, he found it near a mother and her child who were on a bicycle only to realize it had missed them by a few inches. This incident made it clear to Popper that this could have happened to anyone and there aren’t any rules or regulations that could have prevented it. His point was that if he did actually hit the woman or her child, the only thing he could have done was apologize and call for an ambulance. There are no rules regarding accidental injuries inflicted by drones, rather just a few basic guidelines on where to fly and how to be safe. Luckily, for him, there was no harm done and he avoided a potentially serious tragedy. Unfortunately, Oscar Webb, a 16-month old toddler who was playing in his front yard, was not so lucky as his eyeball was sliced in half from a drone propeller. The accident was caused by a drone that spiraled out of control because it clipped a tree branch while it was descending, causing it to fly directly into Oscar. This preventable accident will forever impact this toddler's life as he will never get to see out of his right eye. This may have been the most tragic incident reported, but there are still a lot more cases where individuals are getting hit by them at public events. A woman at a Pride Parade in downtown Seattle was knocked unconscious after a drone crashed into a building then fell down on top of her. The owner of the drone fled the scene only to turn himself in days later. It may seem like an isolated incident, but there is a trending occurrence of these accidents nationally. The
Numerous incidents have been reported around the world and what all these incidents appear to have in common are user error and the effects of weather conditions. Ben Popper, a seasoned drone pilot, wrote about a close call he had when his drone was caught by a gust of wind and vanished from his line of sight. After following the direction of where he assumed it landed, he found it near a mother and her child who were on a bicycle only to realize it had missed them by a few inches. This incident made it clear to Popper that this could have happened to anyone and there aren’t any rules or regulations that could have prevented it. His point was that if he did actually hit the woman or her child, the only thing he could have done was apologize and call for an ambulance. There are no rules regarding accidental injuries inflicted by drones, rather just a few basic guidelines on where to fly and how to be safe. Luckily, for him, there was no harm done and he avoided a potentially serious tragedy. Unfortunately, Oscar Webb, a 16-month old toddler who was playing in his front yard, was not so lucky as his eyeball was sliced in half from a drone propeller. The accident was caused by a drone that spiraled out of control because it clipped a tree branch while it was descending, causing it to fly directly into Oscar. This preventable accident will forever impact this toddler's life as he will never get to see out of his right eye. This may have been the most tragic incident reported, but there are still a lot more cases where individuals are getting hit by them at public events. A woman at a Pride Parade in downtown Seattle was knocked unconscious after a drone crashed into a building then fell down on top of her. The owner of the drone fled the scene only to turn himself in days later. It may seem like an isolated incident, but there is a trending occurrence of these accidents nationally. The