City Council Panel OKs Drone Restrictions
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago City Council committee is recommending creation of rules governing the use of unmanned, remote-controlled drones within the city limits.
The Aviation Committee approved the proposed ordinance, amid nationwide reports that drones have had near-misses with planes, injured bystanders or were snooping on people with on-board cameras.
The measure OK'd Thursday would prohibit drones:
--near airports
--over churches, schools and sports stadiums
--over people or private property without consent.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) previously has said there are safety concerns to consider when it comes to allowing people to operate unmanned aerial vehicles.
"We have a lot of people where we've seen instances where they're flying drones around schools, they're flying in people's back yards, out over the highway, out over roads, and these things are crashing. To me, that's no different than dropping a brick off a bridge, or something," he said.
Waguespack has suggested a ban on drone flights within five miles of an airport.
"I've actually talked to two different people who have drones around Midway. They like to fly them around there, but they know they can't get too close to the airport, but one of the issues with the technology is that once it gets far enough away from your radio-controlled device, you lose control of it," he said.