It's only a Matter of Time Before a Drone Kills Someone
It's only a matter time before a drone such as the one that crashed outside the White House will fall out of the sky and kill someone. This is the stark warning issued by the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE) recently at Mobile World Congress (MWC).
Kevin Curran, senior lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Ulster, and technical expert for Internet and security at the IEEE, said that making powerful drones available in the consumer market leads to civilians being injured or even killed.
"People are just flying drones wherever they can and it is only a matter of time before we see a death in the UK from a drone." Curran explained that this could happen if a drone hits a building without the propeller guards up.
"Once drones hit a solid item, without propeller guards up, they fall from the sky; that's all they can do. And I guarantee that there'll be a lot of accidents in the next 12 months and I'm pretty sure we'll see a death," he said.
Drones like the Hubsan X4 Pro, which was unveiled at CES this year, are safer as they are fitted with a parachute that activates after a collision.
Making these parachutes available as an attachment for existing drones could ease the concerns about a death from someone being hit, according to Curran. Curran also said that he expects to see drones become a form of wireless advertising in the skies very soon, hovering in the streets for maximum visibility.
