Sausage Drone Delivery Lands Australian Man Possible $9k Fine

Another report has surfaced that highlights the need to exercise caution and understand local regulations when using drones. One Australian man is now facing a hefty $9,000 AUD fine after sharing a video in which he seemingly uses a drone to both retrieve and deliver a sausage. It's not the sausage delivery itself that may get him in legal trouble, however, but the way in which he made the delivery.

The video has been removed, but involved a drone traveling over a freeway and to a hardware store where it acquired a sausage from a grill, then delivered it on to a friend who was chilling in a hot tub. Flying the drone over a freeway and populated roads, however, is in violation of Australia's drone regulations, as is flying the drone within 30m of people.

The nation's Civil Aviation Safety Authority points toward visible people near the drone and grill that violate the drone regulations, which aim to prevent injuries by keeping UAVs a suitable distance from people. However, the video poster claims the video had been edited and that the drone was not a risk to people who were nearby. The video was allegedly shot in multiple parts and edited together to look like a single trip.

Similar laws exist in the U.S. and in other countries where the aerial vehicles have grown in popularity. The drone regulations often prohibit these vehicles from traveling over populated regions, above certain heights, beyond view of the operator, near airports and other restricted lands, and near or over bystanders.

SOURCE: Telegraph