42 Percent of Americans Are Wrong About Drones

(Source: Slate.com)  

Drones are inescapable in today’s media, whether they’re crashing on the White House lawn, soaring over bubbling Icelandic volcanoes, or being sold at the mall as a hot gift. And as a recent Reuters/Ipsos online poll found, when it comes to drones, many Americans are certifiably creeped-out. A remarkable 42 percent of respondents said that they disapprove of the ownership of drones by private citizens. It’s clear this new industry has a PR problem—and if average Americans aren’t convinced that drones can be a force for good, a promising new area of technological advancement could potentially be stopped in its tracks.

The poll of 2,405 Americans demonstrated that many people harbor “not in my backyard” sentiments when it comes to drones: Seventy-one percent said drones should not be permitted to operate over the property of others, while 64 percent said they hope their neighbors won’t add drone flying to their list of weekend pursuits.

When it comes to the usage of drones by the authorities, the respondents felt a lot friendlier: Sixty-eight percent felt that the police should be permitted to use drones to solve crimes, while 62 percent favored their usage as a deterrent. Drones usage by news agencies proved more controversial, with 41 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed—but curiously, 49 percent felt it was fine for parents to monitor their children with the assistance of flying robots.

Perhaps these responses aren’t surprising, considering that the public almost always greets new technologies with skepticism. Consider the 1800s Locomotive Acts in the United Kingdom, which mandated laughable-sounding driving regulations like requiring a poor soul with a red flag to walk in front of the vehicle at all times. While cars are now ubiquitous and these rules appear comically archaic, drone supporters should be aware that strict regulations—maybe even involving literal red flags—could be passed in the U.S. if these attitudes persist. When it comes to legislation, the public’s disapproval of drones could very well turn into support for tight restrictions or even an outright ban on drone use by private citizens, as evidenced by bills supporting bans that are already on the table in some U.S. communities, including in New York City. To prevent public distrust from turning into strict lawmaking, it’s time that drone supporters got better at accentuating the positive, and when it comes to drones, there’s a lot of it.

Drones are remarkably versatile devices, giving everyone with a few thousand dollars in the bank easy access to formerly unprecedented amounts of aerial data. While that may sound unsettling, access to this new source of information is already helping humanity in a wide variety of ways, from safety inspections to wildlife monitoring to journalism.

Winemakers use drones to keep close tabs on their crops, while camera-equipped search-and-rescue drones have saved lives in Canada and the United States.

Journalists have used drones to document the aftermath of battle in Donetsk, Ukraine, and the destruction of Typhoon Haiyan, while scientists use drones to keep tabs of orangutans and their habitat in Indonesia. Data collected by drones has been used to aid disaster response in Haiti and the Philippines, operating at a fraction of the cost of a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft.

Continue Reading at Slate.com…