Drones aren't just for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, or Somalia anymore—they're coming to the good old US of A. The Senate sent a bill to President Obama yesterday that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with rules to safely regulate domestic drones, USA Today reports.
Civilian demand is already starting to heat up for various flying robots, which now come in a host of shapes and sizes, are surprisingly cost effective, and would occupy the same airspace as passenger planes.
A Mesa County, Colo., sheriff's department, for instance, already has FAA permission to use a 2-pound helicopter drone to take pictures of crime scenes. The drone costs roughly $36,000—less than a new squad car. Analysts expect the civilian drone market to hit $11.3 billion over the next decade, which has pilots and others worried about safety—especially after instances like an August crash in Afghanistan involving a drone and a C-130 cargo plane. "It's about coming up with a plan where everybody can get along," says a professor helping to draft the new regulations. "Nobody wants to cause an accident."
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Fan-fucking-tastic. Police with drones. So long evading police.
I think it's interesting that in this time of fear about terrorists getting nukes we are about to start making drones for everybody out here. I mean if I were a terrorist wouldn't a drone be the way to go to deliver a bomb or something? It's unmanned and apparently cheap.
Anyway I don't really give a fuck either way but just keep in mind that next time you are running for the cops, it's hard as fuck to outsmart a drone. These things blow up Afghans by the dozen.
And the real losers here are air-traffic controllers. Welcome to the most stressful job ever and now toss in like 5,000 drones running all over the place plus the normal air traffic. Sounds fucked to me.
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