If a drone happened to fly in the neighborhood, my first instinct would not be to blast it out of the sky. If it was a constant nuisance in my yard, I might try to call the neighbor, if I knew who it belonged to, and handle it civilly. There was a great link above ( #50) about several ways to handle this. There are reasonable options. If someone truly feels threatened or invaded and doesnt want to step inside for a few minutes (boy there was some hyperbole used previously to describe this as running away, fleeing or what have you) then consider the milder forms of landing it, such as tossing a football or a hose at it.
When I was a kid, a neighbor left his bike on the curb of a house across the street. The kid was maybe 5. The neighbor came out and jumped up and down on the poor kids bike, destroying it. HE was forever known as “the mean man”. His response was over the top, as was, IMO, the decision to shoot this one out of the sky because it happened to fly over someones yard. Watch the videos. The drone never was 10 feet from the house and never under a canopy looking at a girl at a pool. This is hogwash. I hope the guy gets a resisting arrest charge too, after watching the video.
I like that net gun. It’s not likely to hurt anyone else, and it may or may not damage the drone too badly.
I live on a golf course, so I’m not expecting too much privacy these days. But other people cherish this very much, and I think the laws should catch up with technology and give people some kind of legal recourse vs. this kind of trespassing.
First off, I don’t think ordinary property has air rights to cover anyone flying over. It’s different when your neighbor’s tree overgrows your yard or you hear of “selling air rights” to the guys who want to build a massively high building next door, blocking everything. (I could go google this, but don’t feel like it.) I believe the issue has then come down to perceived value. And in the case of someone, say, batting a ball from their yard across yours, then an issue could be made for personal safety.
The laws will eventually extend to cover drones. Right now, it’s the same as when the web was new and things like mail fraud protection didn’t extend to the internet (I could go google those law changes, too, but won’t, for now.) As the tech develops, the laws will follow.
So he got “first degree criminal mischief” for shooting the gun. Believe me, I don’t want my next door neighbor’s pellets landing on me or my yard, no matter how inoffensive someone says they are. And in some places, no, you aren’t allowed to just shoot to scare off some wild animal.
But on to the emotional aspects: add me to the list that doesn’t wan’t these in my yard. Sure, some supersleuth military jet can photo my property. We already know satellites can watch us heading for our car (or nude sunbathing or the sex) or even the guys in that low flying helicopter can see what we’re up to. (They catch big water hogs via satellite imagery.)
But these little guys are not toy planes. The described purposes are not random play. And when they go distance (not a toy in a field, where you can follow it by eye,) it’s not the air equivalent of a summer stroll. Of course they have cameras.
Really, what is the purpose of flying a drone if you send it to places you (drone operator) can’t see if it is not to take pictures? If you have a toy remote controlled airplane, the fun is in making it fly right in front of you so you can see it, make it do tricks, stall it and make it come back to life, etc. If you send a drone ‘off’, why would you care if you can’t see it? Oh, because it is sending back pictures of where it is.
The real problem is they let these things on the market without any kind of regulation and I am tired of hearing from supposed libertarians that “it is people’s right to do so”. WIth other flying devices, model airplanes in particular, you are limited where you can fly them, and model rockets have other laws around them. While drones are lightweight, if they crash they have the potential to cause problems, like dropping into traffic, and also have the potential to be used to harass people and the like. Note to some posters, drones are not RC helicopters or planes, they are designed specifically to do things remotely, specifically surveillance, and no one is going to pay the many hundreds, or thousands, of dollars for one of these things without it having a camera on it. The rough equivalent to one of these things flying low over your property is planting a video camera spying on your yard or house without your permission, especially if you plant it on their property.
23 - the ACLU is actually watching the drone legislature closely.
“The rough equivalent to one of these things flying low over your property is planting a video camera spying on your yard or house without your permission, especially if you plant it on their property.”
But in many jurisdictions it is perfectly legal as long as the camera is on the camera owner’s property - because one cannot reasonably expect privacy in their backyard. If you plant a camera in your neighbors’ yard, that is trespass. So is a low flying drone trespassing or not if it flies over other people’s yards?
I’m concerned with allowing drones an unlimited right to trespass - things like drones flown purposely low spooking horses and other domestic animals. Has anyone here tried to stop a frightened horse? Not an easy thing to do, and a frightened horse can hurt itself.
I was just watching the evening news on NBC and they said there was a very close call between a Delta airliner approaching JFK this afternoon at 1900 ft. and a drone, as the plane was approaching for landing. The pilot said the drone was within 100 ft. What possible LEGITIMATE reason could there be for this?!
Of course, this was completely illegal, but what are the chances they catch the perp(s)? It makes me shudder to think about the potential harm these unregulated devices could cause.
That, like the fools who shine lasers in pilots eyes, is unacceptable. But its different that a drone in a residential neighborhood taking photos of someone’s house.
We have contacted a professional photographer to take photos of our lake property in order to sell. This guy has a drone, and we wanted him to take aerial photos of our property, as it is really the main draw of our listing, as opposed to the house itself.
He is so busy, we are having trouble getting him to commit to making the trek out to the middle of nowhere.
I can imagine if a neighbor shot down his drone. It’s probably got a rather pricey camera on board. Might want to notify the neighbors on the day of, lol.
The drone was hovering over his deck… I probably wouldn’t have shot it but I would have either thrown something at it ,got out my garden hose and sprayed it or hit it with a bat.
He “claimed” the drone was hovering over his deck. And he claimed it was 10 feet off the ground. And someone claimed it was under a canopy filming a girl at her pool.The video of the flight path didnt seem to support any of that.
Separate issue- the illegal flying of drones into airport airspace , as happened twice yesterday, needs to stop, as does the sining of lasers at pilots eyes.
Regardless of the details, it is still a problem that needs guidelines. I wouldn’t like anything coming to my air space without my permission whether I am fully dressed or not. My privacy need to be guranteed at all occasions not just when I am doing something embarrassing. It is my right. We need to define what amounts to my air space and what action I am allowed to take if that’s invaded. Just grin and bear is not an option.
It doesn’t matter if the guy’s drone was at 10 feet or 170 feet high in the air. There must be a set height. I thought it used to be 200 feet that changed to 400 feet in light of more advanced camera. If it’s below that the guy invaded someone’s privacy and be dealt with it accordingly.
Do you own the airspace over your home?? Should you shoot a plane or helicopter out of the sky if it flies over your house? Lookingforward addressed thisin post # 62 . I wouldn’t like anything coming to my air space without my permission
And as an aside, the guy who shot the drone lived in a residential neighborhood. Don’t believe its legal to shoot firearms of any kind in a residential neighborhood. At lease not around here. Though sadly it happens in some parts of town and people get killed minding their won business in the privacy of their own homes.
