Drones haverevolutionized photography , aidedconservation , transportedorgans for donations , and even serve in search andrescue missions . But the remote - controlled flying machines are n’t always used for good . They ’ve illegallydelivered drugsto yardbird , spooked an elderly Turkish farmer , andgrounded flightsat one of the domain ’s busy drome .
So , Japan ’s government is look at them gravely , making it illegal to drunkenly fly them earlier this week . Under new legislation lead Thursday , Nipponese citizen caught taking drones bigger than 200 grams ( 7 ounces ) for a drunken spin will face up to a year in prison and be fin up to 300,000 yen ( $ 2,750 ) .
In addition to drunk drone , the new legal philosophy will target multitude performing dangerous stunt , such as diving their drones towards bunch , threaten them with amercement of up to 500,000 hankering ( $ 4,600 ) .
" We believe function lagger after consuming alcohol is as serious as ( boozing ) driving , " a transport ministry official toldAFP .
Japan is not the only land to take a stand against unsafe pilotless aircraft usance . Back in January , Canada ’s Transport Ministerannounced newfangled regulationsbanning pilotless aircraft from take flight near airports and parking brake scene and prohibiting their pilot from being under the influence of drugs or inebriant . Drunk droning was also outlawed in New Jersey last twelvemonth , as was the use of pilotless aircraft near prison house and to tag wildlife .
Japan ’s new laws also prevent drones from being flown within 300 m ( 985 fundament ) of the armed force and defence - connect adroitness without permit and laggard users must bind to a specificset of rules . These include fly only in daytime , avoiding crowds , not losing sight of your laggard , and flying no higher than 150 meter ( 490 feet ) .
Japan has see a spate of drone - related incident in late years , compel the government to take activity . Back in 2017 , a large drone at Ogaki metropolis ’s robot festival was mean to shower children with candy , however , it plummeted to the groundinjuring six people instead .
In 2015 , surety concern were raise when a drone fit with a camera and feeding bottle filled with unnamed message land on the cap of the offices of Japan ’s select minister . vestige of radiation wereapparently detectedon the drone , but thankfully no one was harm .
With drone - related incidents regularly being reportedacross the continents , and rising concerns about their potentialthreats to privacy , ban drone driving under the influence seems like a pretty good estimate .
