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Japan Technology

Japan Outlaws Flying Drones While Drunk (bbc.com) 44

Posted by msmash from the makes-sense dept.
Operating a drone in Japan while drunk could lead to a year in prison thanks to new legislation. From a report: The law, passed by the country's parliament this week, seeks to rein in growing use of the unmanned aerial vehicles. Those found to be intoxicated while flying a drone could also face a fine of up to 300,000 yen ($2,765). The law covers drones weighing more than 200g (7oz) and also puts limits on where drones can be flown. "We believe operating drones after consuming alcohol is as serious as (drink) driving," a Japanese transport ministry official told the AFP news agency. As well as fines over drunken use, the legislation also levies fines on pilots who perform dangerous stunts with their drone. Those caught quickly plunging the craft towards crowds could face fines of up to 500,000 yen.
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Japan Outlaws Flying Drones While Drunk

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    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Japan Outlaws Flying Drones While Drunk
      Will japan REPEAL that law once it sobers-up again?

    • From Old News:

      "there were 79 incidents involving drones in the last financial year. None of them involved a drunk operator...

      Only thing worse than clickbait bullshit, is pointless legislation.

      • It may seem like pointless, but Japan, as many other countries, have loads of pointless legislation.

        However, in my experience, the Japanese are quite strict towards drunk-whatever, so even if no incident has yet occurred with a drunk operator, it is natural for them to include that in a legislation that has to do with operating some/any kind of equipment.

        Maybe it has to do with the Japanese in general obsessing about self-control, and as we all know, alcohol works opposite to that.
        They also obsess about det

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        When it comes to drones, the legislation is back to front. They should be banned every where and then laws allow them to be used in certain locales. So inside private property with the permission of the owner, in public space only with a temporary permit and permission of local government and of course like all model aircraft, in specific parks set aside for model aircraft use. Captured video to be used as proof of breaking the law.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Dupe-checking while drunk is not outlawed at Slashdot.

  • the greatest drones we can see are here Vizag [indiatweets.in] drones are viibe in the daytime and nightitme the military and surveillance machines can be heard

  • Has somebody actually done that yet?

    If not, I don't know whether to applaud the legislators for proactive thinking, or condemn them for creating regulations for a non-problem.

    Regular law should cover injuries caused by any stupid behavior while drunk. Focusing on drones is too specific. For example, dropping furniture on people if moving while drunk. Playing baseball while drunk and hitting bystanders instead of the ball with the bat. Puking on an infant's face while in public while drunk. Coding airline co

  • Drones should have air marshals (Score:3)

    by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Thursday June 13, 2019 @01:00PM (#58756800)
    They need air marshals onboard to make sure there are no drunk pilots.
  • Sorry, I know that is most likely completely wrong. But it is the very first thing that I thought of when I read the headline.

  • Daredevils they are... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ugen ( 93902 ) on Thursday June 13, 2019 @01:02PM (#58756814)

    Saw the title, read "outlaws" as a noun. Wondered for a second why those pesky inebriated Japanese outlaws are now flying drones.

  • I'm not sure you can outlaw "doing X while drunk". When I'm drunk I can't consent to anything. Contracts aren't legally binding, and I can't consent to sex. How then could I consent to flying a drone drunk?

    If I was sober and you asked, I absolutely would say that I wouldn't fly a drone drunk. Ergo drunk me doing so would be me doing that without my consent (and I can't consent in that state) and thus I'm the victim.

  • Because, as we all know.. (Score:3)

    by NewtonsLaw ( 409638 ) on Thursday June 13, 2019 @01:06PM (#58756854)

    Only right to impose huge fines on drunk droning... because, as we all know... um... er... tell me again, how many people have died as a result of the recreational use of multirotor drones?

    Ever...

    In the entire history of the world...

    Oh yes, that's right.

    NONE!

    Around the world, regulators continue to completely ignore the science and focus instead on producing knee-jerk rules based on hysterical media articles that, for many years, have predicted the deaths of thousands as airliners fall from the skies with drones embeded in their engines and windows.

    Examine the science of risk however (risk being the probability times the consequence) and you'll see that the true risk associated with the flying of small recreational drones is *tiny*. THIS is why we have seen no deaths at all, even though drones have been a thing for over a decade now.

    But what about privacy? Drones have cameras don't they?

    Seriousy, people still ask this question. These are the same people who live in a world where everyone has a high-resolution camera in their phone, where a growing number of cars on the streets have HD dashcams, where every shop and every street corner has a CCTV camera trained on those who walk by, where security agencies are already building huge facial-recognition databases.

    And they worry about someone with a noisy drone that has a wide-angled camera which can't resolve faces unless it's just a few tens of meters away (and thus clearly obvious)?

    Sorry... the drone thing is wildly overblown by those who are either ignorant or choose to feign such ignorance.

    The real reason for these onerous regulations is that the previously unused airspace from ground to 400 feet has now gained a huge commercial value as the likes of Google, Amazon, DHL and others seek to use it for their delivery services. These corporations don't want pesky "amateur" drone fliers in *their* airspace [abc.net.au] so they lobby politicians and regulators to make rules that are so tough that people simply give up flying drones completely [youtube.com].

    The really sad thing about all this is that it is effectively killing the hobby of RC model airplane flying. As far as Amazon, Google, DHL and the other lobbyists are concerned, there's no difference between another drone or a model aircraft using "their" airspace so the politicians have chosen to consider things like a scale model of a P51 Mustang to be exactly the same as a DJI Phantom.

    Where will our next generation of aerospace engineers, pilots and astronauts come from? Remember that Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon (just a month short of 50 years ago) was an avid aeromodeller [youtube.com]. Would we be where we are today if the hobby had effectively been banned (as is now shaping up to be the case) way back then?

    And yes, this is becoming a ban because new rules in the EU, the UK, Australia and Canada say that nobody under the age of 16 may own a model aircraft or drone, or use one without adult supervision.

    Why?

    Because how many people have died as a result of the recreational use of multirotor drones again?

    Oh yeah... that's right... ZERO!

    • So you're saying droning while drunk is somehow safe? Are you high?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by caseih ( 160668 )

        What do you mean by "safe?" Is it likely to hurt someone? No, it's not likely to. Is it likely a drunk will crash and wreck the toy drone? Yes, quite likely. Is it likely to damage property? No, not really. Are there are already laws governing drunken behavior? Yes there are. This is a pointless and unenforceable law.

      • There is very little that is totally safe to do when drunk -- but we don't make "drunken lovemaking" a crime do we? How many of the world's problems can be traced back to a drunken night of (quite legal) lovemaking producing unwanted spawn 9 months later I wonder?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      Where will our next generation of aerospace engineers, pilots and astronauts come from?

      People who fly RC and drone aircraft while sober?

      The heavy drinkers will go on to invent things like MCAS.

  • just a fine and no DUI?

  • Japan Outlaws Flying Drones While Drunk

    Now there's an aspect of the Japanese national character I thought did not exist, I always thought the Japanese were the squarest of all squares. I would actually love to have that on my record: "Drone piloting under the influence of intoxicants". Its right up there on why wish list with an Isle of Man police officer citing me for "Furious Driving".

  • only outlaws will drone drunk

  • My Eachine Trashcan is about 50 grams with the battery so that's a good choice when you're drunk droning in Japan.
  • That'd take all the fun out of flying drones.

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