Emergency drone laws passed by Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers has approved new laws to establish a system of registration for drones which now will need to have civil liability insurance to cover damage caused to third parties.

"The objective is clear: to strengthen the safety and operation of this sector, which is very important and is developing in a significant way in our country," said the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, Pedro Marquês.

The minister added that European regulations anyway are being drawn up, to be adopted in 2018, but due to the number of recent near-misses between drones and aircraft carrying passengers, the government decided to go ahead right away.

Marquês said the new Portuguese laws for drones follow much of the proposed European legislation and also provides for "an appropriate penalty system for non-compliance with a set of safety rules," to dissuade illegal drone activity, especially near airports.

"We are concerned about the safety of citizens, but also about the reliability of drones in a booming sector,” added Marques.

Two dozen interested bodies were consulted before the final draft was sent for approval. The proposed legislation now will follow go through a public consultation phase before being passed into law with any necessary changes.

Comments  

+2 #6 mj1 2017-07-31 14:43

I am just patenting a new antidrone airport missile system (ADAMS) for which I expect big orders,

they will controlled form the control tower with a heat seking sensor to take out any incoming drones

+5 #5 NRM 2017-07-31 10:56

Given Drones can incorporate GPS and can already avoid obstacles and return to the user when heading out of range or if the battery is low, why not simply enforce a geo-fence built into the drones at manufacture, which prevents them flying near airports or any sensitive establishment? Any drones without this feature should be banned and recalled. It won't stop all acts, but it would at least prevent it at source over time. Instead, the EU and its submissive's continue to prove their antiquated rule.

+4 #4 mj1 2017-07-31 10:36

Mr Ed

so you say there are existing no fly zones around airports...surely the real question is why these are not enforced instead passing loads of laws who target every one

perhaps the gnr instead of standing by the sides of roads could stand next to airport runways

+3 #3 Ed 2017-07-31 00:15

Quoting mj1:

A simple no fly zone near any airport would be the simple answer, but then in Portugal they lurve to make laws which no one will obey or understand

There exists a 'no fly zone law' in the vicinity of airports and along flight paths which a minority is ignoring, hence the rush to get some stiffer fines in place. Hopefully the new laws will incude a measure of policing, or these too will be ignored.

+3 #2 mj1 2017-07-30 22:00

A simple no fly zone near any airport would be the simple answer, but then in Portugal they lurve to make laws which no one will obey or understand

+4 #1 TT 2017-07-30 20:05

Clearly these 'head in the sand' ministers (EU ones included) want to be seen to be doing 'the right thing' but legislation like this only goes to prove yet again just how detached they are from reality.
Forcing responsible owners/operators into the hassle and expense of registering and insuring their equipment (if it's even possible) will do absolutely nothing stop the rogues' actions. If indeed these alleged and highly improbable incidents happened in the first place.

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