Ever since watching The Jetsons cartoon as a kid, I’ve always wanted a flying car.
But I’ve come to realize that even if the technology existed to make such a vehicle, nobody in their right mind would put it into commercial production. You want to know why? Drones, that’s why.
Now, what do little remote-controlled quad helicopters equipped with HD video cameras have to do with flying cars, you may ask? Go ahead, ask… or this will be one really short column.
You see, drones have become quite popular in recent years. Both amateur and professional filmmakers have been taking advantage of the little gizmos’ capabilities to shoot amazing aerial footage all over the world. I have an acquaintance in Squamish who has owned a drone for years, and he has been shooting professional videos for a wide range of clients in the province. But because drones have been steadily coming down in price, almost anyone with a little extra cash can buy their very own flying video camera. And that’s the problem.
As the number of people who own drones goes up – expanding from professionals and serious amateurs – so does the percentage chance of one of those owners being a complete and total jerk. It’s starting to become a common story to see on the nightly news where some person (usually a woman) has filed a police complaint because a drone has been hovering outside her apartment window at night.
Yeah, that’s not creepy at all.
Then there was the guy in Texas who noticed a drone apparently hovering over his sunbathing teen daughter. Of course the man did what any good Texan (or father for that matter) would’ve done: He grabbed his trusty shotgun and blew that peeping Tombot out of the sky. The ironic/bizarre/sad part of the tale is Shotgun Daddy was the one who got arrested because of some laws about blowing things out of the sky.
The latest drones-gone-wild story comes right out of British Columbia, where a drone grounded eight helicopters and five skimmers that were fighting a wildfire near Oliver, B.C. on Sunday. The drone’s operator was likely trying to get some cool aerial footage of the fire or fire crews in action; however, that kind of activity puts lives and property at risk by buzzing around the area and keeping helicopters out of the sky. The pilots were afraid, and rightly so, that the drone could fly into them, causing a crash.
The news reports don’t say much about the drone, but if it weighed less than 35 kilograms, its pilot doesn’t need a licence or special permit to take to the air. They do have to follow Transport Canada guidelines, that incidentally advise against flying near forest fires or interfering with real aircraft. So, like I said… there’s always going to be a jerk somewhere.
See? That (as my mother would say when I played baseball in the house) is why we can’t have nice things. No flying cars. No laser guns. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had flying cars? A bunch of us would follow the rules, cruise around the sky highway in a reasonable and respectable manner. But, you know there’s always going to be those other guys. Like the motorcycle guys who ride on the side of the road or up the middle of traffic, there will certainly be a flying car driver who flouts the rules and goes off-grid or somewhere they shouldn’t go – just because they can.
Here in the present day, “those” guys are making it very easy for lawmakers to have a reason to more tightly regulate and enforce drone use in Canada. Don’t be surprised if drone operators will soon need licences and/or to have their toys registered. A course may even be required to pilot a drone… who knows? But one thing is certain, until the activity is regulated a little more or stiff punishments are doled out to those who pilot irresponsibly, we’re going to see more rogue drones on the nightly newscasts. And we’re probably never going to see those flying cars.
