Drones must be registered, and owners have to pass safety test

UK government implements new safety rules for everything except tiny toy drones.

Sebastian Anthony – Jul 24, 2017 11:18 am | 10

Drone owners must register their drones and take a safety test, under new rules announced by the UK government.

The mandatory registration and competency test applies to any drone larger than 250 grams, which includes all but the smallest of "toy" drones and super-light racing drones. For example, the DJI Spark that we recently reviewed weighs 300g.

As with most new government rules, there are very few details of how or when these rules will actually be implemented. Registration at least should be fairly easy: "Users may be able to register online or through apps, under plans being explored by the government."

The government has outlined what it hopes to achieve with the competency testing—"to prove that [drone owners] understand UK safety, security and privacy regulations"—but no word of how the test will be distributed or invigilated. I can't imagine it'll involve a sit-down exam; it feels more like a multiple-choice test that could be done through a website or app.

The government also wants to expand the use of geofencing, where drones sold in the UK are pre-programmed with the GPS coordinates of sensitive locations: airports, prisons, football stadia, governmental buildings, etc. If a drone hits one of these areas, it simply refuses to go any further. If you're already inside a geofenced area, the drone might refuse to take off in the first place.

Obviously geofencing only works if the drone has GPS capabilities, and it isn't mandatory for a drone maker to implement geofencing (though many already do). Right now, it seems the government is more interested in creating a big database of buildings and areas with sensitive airspace—and then mandatory geofencing might come along later.

These new rules, which appear to be in addition to the Drone Code published last year, are the result of a public consultation carried out by the Department for Transportation between December 2016 and March 2017. The basic thrust of the consultation was to make drones safer, but without stymieing drone-related innovation and enterprise.

The 250-gram weight limit was derived from the latest data on drone-aircraft collisions, which found that helicopter windscreens can be damaged by a 400-gram drone. Aeroplane windscreens are much tougher: unless the aeroplane is moving very quickly (i.e. not taking off or landing), they can withstand drones weighing up to 2 kilograms.

DJI, one of the larger consumer drone companies, told the BBC that it was in favour of the government's new rules. "We're encouraged that [the government] seems to be recognising the value drones provide and looking for reasonable solutions," a spokesperson said.

All of DJI's drones weigh more than 250g: the Spark weighs in at 300g, while the larger Phantom 4 is a chunky 1380g. The most popular drone on Amazon, the Recon Observation Drone, is 800g. The second most popular drone on Amazon, though, is a toy drone that weighs just 23g. Except for the palm-sized mini drones, though, almost every quadcopter on the market weighs more than 250g. Better get revisin' for that test...

Now read about my flight in the world's fastest aeroplane... (not really, but almost)