Dealing with ignorant bystanders

[dpetroni1]

I frequently see articles in the news about angry people over reacting about a drone flying "near" them. Sometimes they get nervous about the actual unit flying in their proximity but most of the time they hate the idea that they are being filmed.

Check this out:
http://gizmodo.com/watch-a-fisherman-catch-a-drone-in-flight-1722948154

Its a guy with an Inspire flying "around" a pier. Ive done this tons of times & a fisherman tries to take the down the drone. Has anyone had any experience with pissed off people who verbally attack you or worse, who take it upon themselves to attack your quadcopter? Whats a good way to diffuse the situation? "Im just flying around for fun, not recording anything."

Any thoughts? I live in South Fl & I've only had 2 semi-serious run-ins, nothing that got out of hand though. A buddy of mine had 9 cop cars drive up onto the beach because a condo owner nearby called it in saying that "someone is flying a drone near my building & i think theres a bomb on it."

 

[SultanGris]

i fly in public places and everyone whos seen mine thinks its cool as ****, many people come over to check it out and ive never had anyone give me a hard time. If anyone is mad i would show them the screen so they realize there is no zoom and you arent spying on them like they sometimes seem to think.

 

[FangsCPO]

I'm like you. I'm curtious and try to answer as many questions as a I can. I also show them the screen. I had a neighbor come over to my house one time and tell me that he didn't feel comfortable with me flying over his house. I now go no where near his house even when I did in the past I was probably about 60-70 feet about his house. It's just a matter of answering their questions in a civil manner and not be on the defensive. I've never had anyone really mad or angry, just curious and fasinated by how cool it looks. I'm also not like those assholes on YouTube that would challenge the police if they showed up while I was flying. I would simple do as I'm asked and go research out whatever rules or laws they sited just for my education.

 

[SultanGris]

there really are no laws right now, unless your city has passed an ordinance, but people are ignorant. Just tell them to check out google earth and street view if they think they have any sort of right to privacy outside, they dont. lol

 

[SultanGris]

if youre hovering 10 ft over their head or property it might be an issue, but if youre 60+ft up tell them to go pound sand.

 

[dpetroni1]

I'm like you. I'm curtious and try to answer as many questions as a I can. I also show them the screen. I had a neighbor come over to my house one time and tell me that he didn't feel comfortable with me flying over his house. I now go no where near his house even when I did in the past I was probably about 60-70 feet about his house. It's just a matter of answering their questions in a civil manner and not be on the defensive. I've never had anyone really mad or angry, just curious and fasinated by how cool it looks. I'm also not like those assholes on YouTube that would challenge the police if they showed up while I was flying. I would simple do as I'm asked and go research out whatever rules or laws they sited just for my education.

Ive had ton of people approach me with all kinds of people & 98% of the time people are intrigued & just want to watch. But Im coming across more people lately that seem to be enraged by it. I follow the rules & am not breaking any laws but still, (some) South Floridians have such a short temper about it.

 

[SultanGris]

Open carry if legal in your state, they wont bother you then.

 

[Eric]

I try to have have my Laptop handy at all times to review and edit/delete if I capture anything that is undesirable to the person. Haven't had to take it that far yet. A few times I've explained that there's no zoom and 10 feet looks like 30, I might have fibbed about not recording once or twice too, shhhh. . Thankfully 95% of my onlookers just think it's awesome. The nude beach the other week we accidentally happened upon, I was sure we were going to get a mouthful but thankfully not a word from them. I guess we caught them with their pants down. Wow that was lame. We kept our distance and looking in post there was little for anybody to get mad about.

 

[LockMD]

The nude beach the other week we accidentally happened upon

Where's the footage, want my e-mail address

 

[MonroePoteet]

I've only had good experiences with bystanders and observers. Of course, I'm almost always flying out in the middle of nowhere or in obviously public places with little or no private property close by. Mostly people just watch and seem fascinated, but the 4-5 people who've actually come up to me are just curious and once I give them a (very safe) demo, show them the screen, etc., their usual response has been "I WANT ONE!".

RE: privacy in public places, yes, we cannot expect that especially with all the cameras and other photographic / recording technologies around. But, I can also do my best not to act like the paparazzi and intentionally be rude and stare and harrass and invade. If someone doesn't want to be filmed, I'll try to respect that even if they don't have a "right" to privacy in the particular situation. As well, the Inspire makes a noise (like a bunch of bees, IMO, and *angry* bees in blustery wind), and that noise may disturb or disrupt someone's peace and quiet. Again, I'll favor courtesy to belligerence.

mTp

 

[SultanGris]

yes, being courteous is key. im not defending being an annoying arse by any means, but if im not bothering anyone im not going to take any crap from angry ignorant bystanders.

 

[Carlsberg]

I was filming a championship softball gall last night for a Park District.
Everyone was having a great time and I was getting great footage.
Then, some lady spectator from the team that was down 13-0 came over and started bitching. Said it was "distracting" and that she "didn't like being recorded".
(reminded me of "inflate gate" and the final score of the super bowl).

A Park Dist employee told her to pound salt, everyone signed a waiver and the PD can take pics or do whatever they wanted. 10 minutes later the cops showed up after she called them. The cops told her is was none of their business and left.

Oh, I forgot. 2 minutes into my 1st batt some guy comes up to me saying he's a private investigator and that what I'm doing is "illegal". I asked him what "law" I was breaking? He got pissed and left, but I never realized he was then talking to the ***** lady about it and that's how she got so riled up.

The other 99% of the people including all the men playing thought it was the "cat's ***" and everyone is excited to see the videos on the Park Districts web site in the near future.

My jobs typically do NOT involve public spectators as I do cell tower inspections and transformer inspections on high power lines for various Midwest companies. I am not afraid of big metal objects and had zero problems with all the large metal backstops/antennas and large metal light poles between me and my I1 last night.

People are the worst - lol

 

[steelkite]

With the new firmware, this inspire would have been lost.
The motor would have shut down.

 

[RJ Evans]

Look up "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy". It will answer most questions on this issue.

 

[Bear]

Interesting that I came across this post. Just this weekend I was flying in my neighborhood taking photos of the skyline and videos of streets below. Really just killing batteries after the firmware upgrade. My third battery in and a guy came up to my fence (6ft hight) and asked if I was the one flying. I confirmed and continued flying as I thought he was just interested. A few minutes later he was banging on my fence asking my why I was following his kids around. I confirmed I was flying around, but had not interest in his kids. This was not enough for him, so he started to get violent while banging on the fence insisting I was since his kids said I was. In a clam voice I said, "not possible, but if you wait a second I will land my aircraft and we can discuss it face to face". I wasn't looking for a fight, rather I don't like having a threatening tone towards me. I landed and proceeded to the alleyway to chat. His first few words were, "my kids said you were following them, you mind telling me why", with a firm look on his face and fists pumped. I introduced myself and said it was quite the opposite. I heard his kids playing outside my fence as they were trying to find the pilot. They then chased it as I flew around. He looked at his kids and asked them, the responses were awesome. Kid(1), "we were following it around because it had a camera on it". The man calmed down and looked like he wanted to smack his kids.

The incident was longer than a few minutes. Actually ended up as a 45 minute lesson to them about drones. What they can and can't do. Showed them all how it works and all the flight paths I was taking. Even showed the video of little dots (his kids) running after the drone from 400ft. Discussed how the media and idiots have destroyed drones for the law abiding entrepreneurs. They were all intrigued by the end.

In the end, educating people about what is and isn't possible is key. Now if it did get ugly, I had video to prove nobodies privacy was violated or whatever this guy thought I was doing. I don't recommenced going face to face with somebody that was this upset without deescalating or being able to defend yourself.

 

[jon b]

Yup, be an ambassador. Educate where you can and move along if you are disturbing someone. There's plenty of room for everyone and we don't have the right to buzz around distracting people. It's common sense and courtesy to find places where we don't disturb, distract or endanger.

I've been asked not to fly or shoot and in every case, I politely move along.

Don't get upset by anyone looking to pick a fight, show them the best pilot etiquette and fly safe.

 

[timax]

Im sorry but im going to side with the fisherman in that vid.
The drone wasnt just flying past getting general footage it was sitting there taking pictures of some people without asking. How many of you would feel ok with someone you didnt know photographing you so blatantly without asking first? Put yourself in the same situation. Would you feel ok being filmed by an eye in the sky without knowing why or how the images were to be used?
Put the camera in someones hand down on the pier and have them do the same thing and i bet you feel more than uncomfortable.

 

[SultanGris]

Do you have any idea how many security and traffic cameras record you wherever you go?

 

[Chris Franklin]

Normally I would not chime in on something this, but if you are in public there is no such thing as "invading someone's privacy". You are in public. Has everyone forgotten that 99% of the public carries a cell phone. Even cheap cell phones have cameras......to many people are really over re-acting. Be safe, fly safe and have fun!

Im sorry but im going to side with the fisherman in that vid.
The drone wasnt just flying past getting general footage it was sitting there taking pictures of some people without asking. How many of you would feel ok with someone you didnt know photographing you so blatantly without asking first? Put yourself in the same situation. Would you feel ok being filmed by an eye in the sky without knowing why or how the images were to be used?
Put the camera in someones hand down on the pier and have them do the same thing and i bet you feel more than uncomfortable.

 

[RJ Evans]

Im sorry but im going to side with the fisherman in that vid.
The drone wasnt just flying past getting general footage it was sitting there taking pictures of some people without asking. How many of you would feel ok with someone you didnt know photographing you so blatantly without asking first? Put yourself in the same situation. Would you feel ok being filmed by an eye in the sky without knowing why or how the images were to be used?
Put the camera in someones hand down on the pier and have them do the same thing and i bet you feel more than uncomfortable.

I will repeat my last post... Look up "Reasonable Expectation of Privacy". It will clearly explain the issue.