Since the National Park system banned the use of drones in all National Parks in June of 2014, it hasn't stopped some people from disregarding the rules (or not being aware of them) when it comes to flying their UAVs on NPS land. In the most recent example of breaking this rule, a photographer ended up on the ground after being tazed.
Travis Sanders was with his family at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, checking out the Halema'uma'u Crater, a lava lake, where reports say about 100 other people were nearby doing the same. Sanders decided to pull out a micro-sized drone, and began flying it.
You might remember a story from last August where someone accidently crashed their drone into a spring at Yellowstone National Park. That resulted in a $3,000 fine, and is a perfect example of why drones are banned in these areas.
According to the news report below, Sanders claims he didn't know that he was breaking any rules, but it seems he was quick to try and flee the scene when approached by an angered Park Ranger.
Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL
Sanders was tazered after being shouted at to stop running. According to this source, Sanders brought the drone down before trying to leave the area, so it's not as if he was tazed while still piloting the drone.
What do you think of this situation? Overreaction by the Park Ranger? Stupid move by the photographer to try and run?
[via Hawaii News Now]
Not drone. RC TOYS. I know it's a "stupid" distinction, but damn it it's not the same!
And very powerfull RC toys need licences to fly and airspace cleared. Not saying he deserves to be tazed though...
Probably a bit much for flying a micro drone? Those ones are basically toy sized, right?
I own that 'drone'. It fits in the palm of my hands and barely last s 3 minutes of flight time. I hope it never gets me tazed.
He shouldnt have ran
He didn't get tazed for flying a "drone". He got tazed for fleeing the scene. As well as he should have.
So, a dude who was running away was an imminent threat?
Uhmuricuh, fck yeah!
So as long as you can run faster than the cops, then you should be able to get away with anything? Cool.
You run from the police you always get caught or/and in much further trouble. If you think you're defending your rights to record video or photograph some stills on public land which can be fought legally, do it then, get arrested and use it towards your case or for another artist's case as evidence. Heck these days if you run even unarmed you're risking your life, if you run from US Law enforcement.
I doubt he got tazed for flying his toy. He got tazed for running away. Probably an overreaction, but if Sanders was injured or died after being tazed, this would be a whole different story.
Sooner or later, one of these drones will injure someone. Which - again - will be a whole different story.
Park Rangers in the USA carry tazers? I did not know that. As for trying to flee the scene, telling them you have no ID and trying to bolt is probably not the smartest idea.
Pretty misleading headline - "Photographer Gets Tazed For Flying A Drone in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park"
He didn't get tazed for flying a drone. He ran from the Park Ranger. Thereby compounding his first mistake with another.
Thanks for the feedback, you're right. I've tweaked the headline.
Seems like a bit much to tase the guy. At least he didn't get shot over something so trivial. He broke the rules, but flying a little RC toy is about the equivalent of dropping a gum wrapper on the ground. Not something really worth of "apprehend at all costs".
Better than being shot...still that was very excessive force for a minor infraction.
This is a joke.... Since we do have a major problem in national parks of people flying RC Heli's...... right....? These videos that people post showing these parks only help the parks out... doesn't take away anything from them.
In the last few years. Flying cameras of all sorts are banned from the NPS for very valid reasons. I'm not sure how breaking the law is really helping out the NPS.
What are some valid reasons that justify taking away the right to video or photograph a public place out of curiosity?
The Yellowstone example where someone crashed a drone into Grand Prismatic Spring, potentially creating irreparable harm to the pool is one example. And then there is the guy in, I believe, NYC who managed to kill himself with a large RC helicopter that he flew into his own head. It could just as easily been someone else's head. Finally there is the noise pollution that these things create. Many people travel to these places to find peace and quiet.
I can understand the Grand Prismatic Springs situation. Flying directly over isn't a good idea. I don't think you can compare the Large RC heli to a micro heli. If a micro hit someone the micro would just break on contact. There is no sensitive place where this guy was caught. I'm pretty sure there would be no more Heli if it landed in lava lol. Also the only heli's that are noisy are the gas powered ones not the electric and are very quit after being so high such as the normal flight high. Speaking from my own personal experiences with them. I think each park should have there own specific rules. Such as not flying directly over environmental areas that are sensitive. Then other areas where are open for whatever people may wanna do with there creativity. My opinion tho
For starters, there are numerous pieces of equipment that have crashed, costing thousands to clean up. Who pays for that? Oh, that's right, tax payers. It isn't cheap or easy to fish a drone out of certain places. Animals, some endangered may ingest the broken pieces, or some of the chemicals may leak out of the craft. While we are on the topic of animals, surely you have seen the vast number of videos of drones harassing animals. When animals are harassed by people or things buzzing around them, they tend to either relocate or stop breeding. Endangered animals, whom human beings are required to keep a certain distance from. The fact is, the NPS does not belong to humans, it is a sanctuary for wildlife where they are free to be animals without our interference. We don't have a right to take that just because we want cool pictures. There is nothing to support drones increasing the NPS revenue, sorry.
From Yosemite's website: The park has experienced an increase in visitors using drones within park boundaries over the last few years. Drones have been witnessed filming climbers ascending climbing routes, filming views above tree-tops, and filming aerial footage of the park. Drones can be extremely noisy, and can impact the natural soundscape. Drones can also impact the wilderness experience for other visitors creating an environment that is not conducive to wilderness travel. The use of drones also interferes with emergency rescue operations and can cause confusion and distraction for rescue personnel and other parties involved in the rescue operation. Additionally, drones can have negative impacts on wildlife nearby the area of use, especially sensitive nesting peregrine falcons on cliff walls.
People who fly these clean these up. I don't know where the number of "thousands" in cost are coming from that you say. Which I would like to know. There are no chemicals in "Drones" unless there are gas powered which a majority people use are not. Just a bunch of wires and plastic. I haven't heard of any endangered animals stop breeding or relocated based on RC/Drones. I would like to see that articles for my own pleasure reading. Would be a interesting read because I never heard that before.
Yes some can be noisy but not all. Only ones I've ever heard be noisy are the gas powered ones which are very uncommon. They say they can have negative impacts but don't say they are causing negative impacts. If it is for a fact causing negative impacts by all means there should be a no fly zone and etc.
Do you have special drones that do not have batteries? What are batteries made of?
There is footage of a drone chasing a herd of sheep that ended up separating the young from the parents. That's awful. Another one shows a ram taking down a drone that was buzzing a few feet from it. One of the great things about NPS is they have the ability to make observations and change rules before any significant impact on the population occurs. This isn't climate change where we argue about it for decades. There have been incidents and visitor complaints at almost every national park involving a drone and therefore they have been banned. It does not have to be justified further. Are you also upset that plastic water bottles are no longer allowed in? People litter and it impacts wildlife, therefore they are banned. There is no need for a case study.
NPS is also not saying drones in general are evil. They use drones themselves to monitor populations and nesting, aid in search and rescue operations, monitor activity within the parks, and access places rangers are unable to go. It has provided a tremendous amount of information that they have been unable to obtain before due to budget constraints. However, the people operating them are experts on what they are looking, not just in operating a drone. They are not random ass clowns trying to get cool pictures.
Commercial photographers with permits are still allowed to have drones in certain circumstances. They want to reduce people who don't know what they are doing.
I would understand if batteries sat in water for a long period of time would cause problems but unless someone is being reckless it being in the water for a little wouldn't cause a problem.
Sure people being children about how they fly it shouldn't be allowed to fly them. No I'm not upset about plastic water bottles being there because that doesn't affect me. I am just curious how you compare Rc Heli's to plastic water bottles. Just interesting hearing other peoples opinions about this topic and hearing information they have just like your own. Its interesting and informative.
But see what you're doing is saying it isn't bad if this, this, that, that, and all these other things are adhered to. Or if it happens just so, it's safe or dangerous. The fact is, 90% of the time they won't be. And it's incredibly hard to monitor who is being responsible and who is not. The stakes are very high and it is safer to ban them.
RC heli's and water bottles are both providing something of value only to the person using them and the risks of them junking up the parks outweigh those small benefits.
A majority of the time no harm is caused by the people who are using these. Its easy to focus on the few bad things (like the news usually does) and say everyone or majority are misusing these items even though its not true. I understand them banning it across the board if its that serious of a problem. In this case in this article I can't imagine someone with a micro heli cause any possible harm in a lava field.
I, for one, don't go to a park to hear a drone buzzing away. Here in Canada, at one of our biggest parks, they have even banned helicopter tours except for a small window of time on Fridays. Noise pollution is nasty and for some of us it ruins the experience. Drones add nothing to the park, so removing the right to fly them over this tiny percentage of the US (and hopefully Canada) is a no-brainer.
The presence of these devices is disruptive to wildlife and other visitors. Period, end of story. There is no argument that can outweigh that in terms of recreational use. The point of having established the park system is to preserve and protect the wildlife that lives in it. Allowing devices that might disrupt that goes against the entire foundation of the park system. There is no reasonable way to sort out what type of technology is and isn't allowed. One thing people don't realize is that these things take a literal act of Congress. I photograph for the park systems and I am required by law to use medium or large format film. I know I would be very unhappy if my tax dollars were spent on politicians bickering over drones versus a micro heli.
The fact that other visitors complain is another very valid reason for their ban. If the parks were a business and kept receiving a bunch of complaints about the same thing, they would certainly address it. People don't enjoy these things buzzing around unless they are operating them.
No one is taking away the right to shoot stills or video out of curiosity. But you can only use a device you have complete control over.
Some Park Rangers may have to spend days or weeks on their own in the outdoors. I'd compare them to Special Ops rather than mall cops.
Park Rangers aren't mall cops, they have weapons and authority. Don't want to get tazed, don't run away like a coward.
100% pro-park ranger on this one. Regardless of whether or not he knew the rules (and his attempt to flee suggests consciousness of guilt) you cannot flee from law enforcement without consequences.
I live in Hawaii and the story I heard was that this guy was belligerent and unpredictable. He had already landed his toy and then decided to make a run for it. He ran towards an area where there is a 500 foot cliff and it was completely dark. The ranger stated that he felt he had to stop him to save him from himself. I personally feel it's never a good idea to run from someone in uniform that carries a gun regardless of your opinion of Park Rangers. This guy is purely an idiot and isn't making it any easier for those that fly responsibly. I'm glad he got tazed.
deserved every last volt. Ignorance of the laws don't cut it.
They are both wrong, first the guy should not have run, if he would have explained to the Ranger he didnt know he most likely would have gotten off with a warning, but since he ran I suspect he new he was in the wrong. Second getting tazed as your are running away is not immediate danger to the Ranger he over reacted, this was not a felony in the making.
Boils down to, follow the rules, do the right thing and you should never come in contact with law enforcement.
He didn't deserve to get tazed just for flying the drone, but he probably deserved it for running. Don't run from the police. That's when bad things happen. Take responsibility for what you did and move on.
The communists showed the world how to punish all for the crimes of the few..... now we have communists in charge in the USA. Make overwhelming laws before even one problem or issue.
The "lawmakers" should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, they are not even remotely American, nor do they understand what America stands for or means.
The national park drone ban is proof that drooling morons run the circus.