Drone laws are mostly civil, not criminal. You’d have to do something like intentionally fly into someone or use a drone for illegal activities to get arrested. Things like flying in restricted areas or going beyond visual line of sight usually result in fines or losing your drone.
Drew said:
My mini 4 pro is 270g. Should I register it or am I overthinking this?
It’s just $5. Might as well do it. Pilot Institute sends free stickers with your ID number too.
Yeah, no point in skipping registration just to save $5. I’ll probably only fly recreationally for now, but I’ve thought about getting the 107 license to have fewer restrictions. The way drone laws keep changing, it might be a good idea.
I’d say the number of arrests is close to zero. I saw a guy sitting in his car flying FPV in a park full of kids. A police car drove by, didn’t stop, didn’t care.
Kai said:
I’d say the number of arrests is close to zero. I saw a guy sitting in his car flying FPV in a park full of kids. A police car drove by, didn’t stop, didn’t care.
They’re not stopping people mid-flight unless they’re reckless or cause damage. If you hurt someone, break laws, or fly unregistered over 250g in the wrong place, then you could have problems.
That’s the thing. There’s no real danger. No one has ever been killed by a small drone. But like anything, rules won’t change until something bad happens, just like roads that only get traffic lights after a crash.