Drone laws: Japan prepares to ban flying unmanned aerial vehicles under the influence of alcohol
- While drone accidents in Japan have so far not been caused by drunk operators, authorities want to pre-empt a situation that happened in the US, when a ‘drunk person landed a drone on the grounds of the White House’
- If new laws are passed, those who drink and drone could be jailed for up to a year
According to the transport ministry, there were 79 incidents involving drones in the last financial year. None of them involved a drunk operator but tighter restrictions were nonetheless regarded as a necessary pre-emptive move.
“There are lots of different types of accidents that are reported each year but the majority are relatively minor and involve, for example, a drone operating on a predetermined route making an accidental landing,” a ministry official said, adding that there were 63 reports of accidents in 2017 and 55 the previous year.
“We have no records of someone causing an accident with a drone while drinking, but we do know that in the US about three years ago, a drunk person landed a drone in the grounds of the White House,” the official said.
“We obviously want to avoid that sort of situation, so these new laws are designed to stop something before it happens.”
Under the new rules, a drone operator will be legally required to carry out preflight checks of the vehicle and authorities will carry out on-the-spot inspections when an accident occurs.
Under the existing laws, an operator requires the ministry’s permission to operate a drone that weighs more than 200g in a densely populated area, near an airport, at night or out of visual range.
In the US about three years ago, a drunk person landed a drone in the grounds of the White House.