
Japan outlaws flying drones while drunk - headalgorithm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48621450
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zrobotics
"We believe operating drones after consuming alcohol is as serious as (drink)
driving," a Japanese transport ministry official told the AFP news agency.

I'm assuming this is due to translation, surely this is hyperbolic and not
serious. I don't think this is a bad law, people should be sober when piloting
a drone, but how in any way is a drone comparable to the danger posed by a
drunk driver?

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suls
Same logic as riding a bicycle _under the influence of alcohol_ is against the
law in Japan.

Edit: clarified

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fileeditview
In Germany you can even lose your driver's license when riding a bike drunk
(but you have to be very drunk.. more than 1.6 per mille).

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petre
What if you do not have a drivers license? You just get a fine?

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usrusr
A repeat offender would eventually be barred from any participation in traffic
other than walking. Basically a form of restraining order, with the same
limited effectivity.

Fortunately the law is still acknowledging that drunk cycling is much less bad
than drunk driving (and often the only practical alternative besides
sobriety), so you'd have to go pretty wild to ever get more than maybe a fine.
Unfortunately, this view is increasingly under pressure from the kind of
"enemy of the good" perfectionists who always ignore the big picture.

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avar
It's unfortunate that they're outlawing it based on the weight of the drone
being more than 200 grams.

A soccer ball is around 450 grams, and even when it falls at terminal velocity
on your head it's not going to kill you.

Of course that's not true of most 450 gram drones _now_ , since they have
external spinning blades and sharp or stabby surfaces.

But if they instead defined some sort of crash test one might imagine even a 2
kg drone being relatively harmless if it e.g. was cushioned by styrofoam and
had internal propellers. A law that tested for the potential harm would create
a market for creating safer drones.

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hugoromano
Don’t understand why countries don’t keep it simple. If you are drunk you
can’t operate any type of machinery or work, wait better can’t run a country
as president or prime minister. Also, I forgot, you can’t vote in any
parliament. Just one law.

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bliblah
I can't wait for groups of friend to have "Designated Drone Operators" to hand
over the controls to if the police ever question them as to why the machine
was operating so erratically.

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xfitm3
Has this been a problem in Japan?

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hyperpallium
Don't Drunk Drone.

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raiflip
Japan shouldn't really be passing laws while drunk.

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simonvc
Dont drink and drone.

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anewhnaccount2
Fun ambiguity in outlaws (verb) versus outlaws (noun) in this headline.

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enriquto
Yet funnier: the headline is ambiguous at the grammatical level, but the
meaning is not ambiguous! In both interpretations, you have the exact same
situation of people flying drones illegally while drunk in japan.

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jniedrauer
Alternative interpretation: The government of Japan was collectively drunk and
completely outlawed the flying of drones

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jacobush
True, a correct interpretation, but so preposterous it can be ruled out. :-)

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g105b
I was hoping to see footage of some outlaws flying drones while drunk.

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_pmf_
As with everything Japan does, this seems like a very sensible thing to do.

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stickfigure
This seems a little weird to me. Modern drones are pretty much autonomous
vehicles that receive behavior suggestions from their controller. Unlike cars
and airplanes, they don't continuously rely on reaction times to stay in
control.

Yes, a drunk person _could_ pilot a drone into something, but it takes some
effort. A drunk person could throw a rock at someone, but we don't ban drunks
from carrying rocks.

This law would sound more compelling if there was a rash of drunken drone
injuries.

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mahesh_rm
"Modern drones are pretty much autonomous vehicles that receive behavior
suggestions from their controller."

So are modern planes. I wouldn't like my pilots to be drunk.

"Yes, a drunk person could pilot a drone into something, but it takes some
effort."

I am not sure what drones have you been piloting: your anecdotal experience
does not match mine.

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snvzz
>Anyone failing to abide by the established regulations could face a fine of
up to 500,000 yen.

Surprisingly cheap. So, with financial muscle to exercise, this effectively
means doing whatever you want with a drone.

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dirktheman
Cheap? That's over 4600 dollar...

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snvzz
This excludes the riffraff only. If you're, say, a business, then you can do
this assuming an additional variable cost up to that amount. It's seriously
cheap.

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acid_burn
Do you see businesses doing this?

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snvzz
Illegal, for-profit drone abuse? Yes, absolutely.

