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Should lasers be banned in the UK

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Reply 60
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1420787
3
https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
Reply 61
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TeeEm
19
Original post by DiddyDec
You should have stayed till you were at least 13.

Posted from TSR Mobile


no wonder you are getting banned ...
Neither.
Reply 63
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Howard
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Original post by Rock Fan
Been some incidents involving lasers being shone at pilots as they take off and land in the UK, the British Pilots Association are calling for it to be banned in the UK, sounds like a fairly strong case after one pilot had medical problems after.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35580261


No. I don't think they should be banned. It's already illegal to shine a laser into a cockpit.

We can't just ban everything just because a few individuals use an item irresponsibly. Should we ban kitchen knives because some people use them to stab other people to death?
Original post by Drewski
Lots of things can kill. Water kills but we're not telling you to stop drinking.

But this one small thing owned by an idiot could kill hundreds.

Let's look at the most recent example, the Virgin flight to NY. That plane would have been carrying at least 300 people. Is your right to a toy more important than their lives?

There are legitimate uses for lasers and those that need them could be licenced. Those with no need for one could make do with plenty of other things.


again, this is punishing everybody for the actions of the very few - it's the same as, say, banning all muslims because of the very few that will terrorise, or banning kitchen knives just because some will use it to murder children in schools (as it happened in china not long ago). you need to punish the agent, not the tool. criminal justice needs to deter those who may use lasers for harm, not deter *everybody* from simple ownership.
I read a comment on an article from a private pilot who was flying in Corfu. He said that he could not count the number of lasers being shone at his aircraft.
Whats the punishment for shining laser at aircraft? £200 fine most likely.

Make it 4 years in jail and 99.9% of potential offenders will stop
Original post by the bear

they could also fly a few drones into the engines while they are there.


tbh I'm surprised that hasn't happened, are there the means to actually disable a drone right now if someone decided to fly one over an airport? (

Obviously they'd need to know the path of the plane as the drone wouldn't be able to move all that fast compared to a passenger plane, but if they knew where to hover it so it was sucked into an engine it would surely cause a disaster.
Original post by joey11223
tbh I'm surprised that hasn't happened, are there the means to actually disable a drone right now if someone decided to fly one over an airport? (


No, but they're being investigated.

The current favourite idea is to train eagles to attack them. Seriously.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Drewski
No, but they're being investigated.

The current favourite idea is to train eagles to attack them. Seriously
.

intriguing :holmes:
Original post by Drewski
No, but they're being investigated.

The current favourite idea is to train eagles to attack them. Seriously.


I have a friend who races these and the blades would easily take a few fingers

The damage to a bird's foot would be awful
Original post by Bern Herkins
I read a comment on an article from a private pilot who was flying in Corfu. He said that he could not count the number of lasers being shone at his aircraft.


i imagine that flying over Kavos would be tricky. it is full of dickheads.
I'm conflicted, because there are genuinely useful applications (e.g. lectures, if you're giving a presentation on a big screen then there aren't really any great alternatives) but on the other hand, the risk to aircraft is real and it's presumably very difficult to police.

Regardless, there should be very hefty punishments for deliberately shining lasers at aircraft. If someone were trying to crash an aircraft by storming the cabin or smuggling in explosives they'd be in prison for a long time and whilst shining a laser might not be quite as bad, it's still a risk to human life.

NB: I'm assuming they're talking about pocket lasers rather than all lasers because an awful lot of electronic devices and research uses lasers; banning all lasers would be a terrible idea.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by the bear
intriguing :holmes:


Original post by BaconandSauce
I have a friend who races these and the blades would easily take a few fingers

The damage to a bird's foot would be awful


In fairness though, model aircraft have existed for decades, they've never been used to attack planes - and are much more capable of taking a payload up with them - so the sudden obsession with drones is a touch perplexing.
Original post by Drewski
In fairness though, model aircraft have existed for decades, they've never been used to attack planes - and are much more capable of taking a payload up with them - so the sudden obsession with drones is a touch perplexing.


I've always thought that

I think it's just fear of the new and the desire for some to have everything legislated against (especially those who don't understand it)
Original post by BaconandSauce


The damage to a bird's foot would be awful


Eh saw it on the news tbh, apparently the eagles (and other birds of prey) can grab them without injury, one the skin on their feet is quite tough I think, and apparently they are aware of the blades and tend to twist upside-down underneath the drone and thus grab it in their talons from the underneath, holding the body not the propellers.
Original post by TheArtofProtest
You seem like the type of guy that would find it justified to perpetually lock everyone up in solitary so that there are no crimes.


How did u arrive at that conclusion? lol
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by joey11223
Eh saw it on the news tbh, apparently the eagles (and other birds of prey) can grab them without injury, one the skin on their feet is quite tough I think, and apparently they are aware of the blades and tend to twist upside-down underneath the drone and thus grab it in their talons from the underneath, holding the body not the propellers.


I know the ones my friends use have all sorts of safety devices fitted to prevent them from being able to operate the blades while holding the device given the real risk of only being able to count to 6.

But it would be interesting to see this but I don't think it's such a good idea
Original post by somemightsay888

What are the purpose of lasers anyway lol, every time I've seen someone with them all they do is shine it at people :s-smilie: ?


they're fun to play with
Original post by BaconandSauce
But it would be interesting to see this but I don't think it's such a good idea


Most birds of prey are 'preprogrammed' to attack other birds from underneath their prey so that they can't fight back. Seems to work so far.

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