Title: Technology and risk considerations in shaping future drone legislation

Authors: Stephen Wright; Matthew Studley

Addresses: Department of Engineering, Mathematics and Design, University of West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK ' Department of Engineering, Mathematics and Design, University of West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK

Abstract: The global aviation industry has decades-old and highly successful legislation enforcing safety in conventional manned aerospace. This framework has been evolved gradually around a set of mature technologies with particular goals and implementations, and legislators are now struggling to integrate the profoundly different implications of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology into this regulatory environment. This paper seeks to inform future UAV policy by highlighting its technological and distinctiveness from conventional aviation and making recommendations for future legislation, based on these observations.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles; aviation; legislation; risk; reliability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2021.116513

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2021 Vol.21 No.2, pp.128 - 139

Received: 22 Jan 2020
Accepted: 01 May 2020
Published online: 27 Jul 2021 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article