Recreational drone users have been severely jolted by the new set of rules and regulations recently announced by Canada’s Federal Minister of Transport, Marc Garneau. According to these rules, it is illegal for recreational drone users in Canada to fly their device above an altitude of 90 meters; within the vicinity of 75 meters of nearby buildings, animals or people; within a radius of nine kilometers of an airport; at night; or even if you are not within 500 meters of your UAV.
Moreover, the rules also dictate that your name, address and contact number must also be clearly stated on the device. Fines of up to $3000 have been stipulated for any violation of these laws. The tremendous increase in accidents involving drones has led the Federal government to bring these regulations to fore since 148 accidents were reported the previous year as opposed to 41 in 2014.
The Federal Minister, while briefing the press on the new rules, argued that majority of the recreational drone users were newbies and did not possess requisite experience for flying a drone. Therefore, he envisaged, that people are not aware of the safety hazards that are associated with the flying devices. He also expressed his fears and reservations regarding a collision between a drone and an aircraft which could have unbelievable ramifications.
An engineer and member of the Ontario Aerospace Council Board, Joseph Yeremian, is of the view that these rules and safety measures are an encouraging development. He added that in addition to potential collisions with aircrafts, drones could also get entangled with power transmission lines or even crash into the ground injuring humans as well as animals. This, he believes, is one of the many reasons that makes it beneficial to have your contact details engraved on the drone.
It is hoped that the new laws will go a long way in bringing the number of drone-related accidents down tremendously. Privacy is another aspect that these rules will be contributing a lot to since people will be protected from the prying eyes of their neighbors. Having said that, the rules are extremely strict and will prevent drone aficionados from flying their machines even if they are too close to buildings or people around them. Check out the Canada Drone rules here.
