With drones more prevalent in society with every passing day, legislation and regulation of their use is never far behind. However, chalk one up for Team Drones; a U.S judge has ruled against banning the use of drones in a state’s parks.
In December 2018, firefighter and drone pilot Jason Harrison was arrested and had his DJI Mavic confiscated by local police after flying it in a park in Michigan. He challenged this arrest as unlawful and it sparked a three-month-long legal battle between Michigan Coalition of Drone Operators (MCDO) and Genesee County, Flint, who had moved to have drones banned from being used in local parks.
Last week on 10th February 2020, Honorable Judge Joseph Farah ruled in favor of the MCDO and against legislation restricting the use of drones in parks. While it’s still early days in lawmaking surrounding drone use, we are seeing more and more cases and scandals globally. Many tourist hotspots, like in Iceland for instance, have an outright ban against using drones whether you have a license or not. Many countries are looking to move more towards that sort of control. California already bans drone use in many public parks. The U.K is moving in the same direction too, with registration and a theory test now mandatory for pilots, amateur and professional alike.
Do you think drone usage should be controlled outside of national airspace? Should the flying of drones in public parks be banned? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.