Los Angeles, CA—The explosion
of civilian multi-rotor camera drones is just beginning.
People are reacting to seeing them for the first time.
My experiences with the
public seeing my drones in action has been mixed. Thankfully the vast majority of people are
amazed and they enjoy seeing them fly.
A minority of “drone
detractors” react with exhibitions of hostility, hatred and ignorance. In the last two years I’ve had just a scant few
unsettling encounters while flying my drone.
For reasons I don’t
understand I’ve been only been confronted by women. They advise me I’m breaking the law, and then
they call or threaten to call the cops. They
obviously don’t know the law.
I usually ignore them, shoot
my video and leave the area when my flight is over. If the cops respond to their call I don’t know
because I’ve always moved on prior to their arrival.
Three women on separate
occasions were downright nasty and even emotionally disturbed.
I’ve never been negatively
confronted by police and have sent my drone into the air in front of them. The cops seem to be curious and enjoy
learning about them.
I have no clue what drove
these women’s nastiness and anger.
Taking a friendly approach never helps and responding with similar
hostility is pointless and counter-productive.
Moving to another location in
one case was little help as one woman jumped in her car and actually followed
me!
It’s obvious these women are
clueless of why we send our drones up or that they are safe and not invading
their privacy. I’m really proud of the
videos I uploaded to YouTube and simply want the world to see just how much fun
I have while capturing the stunning images.
The civilian camera drones
are here to stay. Our First Amendment
right to use them to capture images, trumps those hastily passed laws along
with attempted future legislation outlawing them.
The safety record of the
civilian multi-rotor drones is unblemished despite the two million already in
the hands of civilians.
I have a habit of sending my
drone up in the early morning hours avoiding potential busybodies that might
take exception to my drone. I also
position my controller and drone behind my car to shield my activities from
strangers.
We must remain polite,
friendly and civil even when people become nasty. I’d rather make friends than enemies out of
anyone. I will continue to take the high
road with anyone hostile to my drones
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