Drone Legislation Would Require Owners To Buy Insurance, Get UAV ‘License Plates’

A Southern California lawmaker is pushing legislation to require drone owners to purchase insurance policies for their vehicle.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto this week introduced the Drone Registration/Omnibus Negligence-prevention Enactment (DRONE) Act of 2016, which would hold owners responsible for registering and obtaining physical or electronic “license plates” for drones.

“If cars have license plates and insurance, drones should have the equivalent, so they can be properly identified, and owners can be held financially responsible, whenever injuries, interference, or property damage occurs,” Gatto said.

The bill would also require “inexpensive” insurance policies to be bought at the point of sale – which, according to Gatto, would be about a dollar “or so” – similar to how the California Redemption Value (CRV) tax is collected with the purchase of bottles and cans. Read More…