Overview

Drones (otherwise referred to as unmanned aircraft systems) are a rapidly-growing market. More than one million drones have been registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and drone sales are expected to reach a record high of 3.7 million units in 2018. In addition to economic benefits, drones will have positive impacts in many sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, law enforcement, telecommunications, journalism, retail, and transportation.

Economic Impact

• In 2017, Congress granted the FAA express authority to require the registration of drones, including those operated for recreational purposes. By the end of December 2017, more than 873,000 model, or hobby, owners had already registered with the FAA.
• The economic impact of the integration of drones into the national air space will total more than $13.6 billion in the first three years of integration and will grow sustainably for the foreseeable future, cumulating to more than $82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025.
• By 2025, total job creation due to drones is estimated at 103,776.

Law Enforcement and Safety

• By 2017, at least 59 individuals have been rescued by drones from life-threatening conditions in 18 separate incidents around the globe.
• More than one-third of the people rescued were saved by drones operated by civilian bystanders and volunteers offering their services to help professional rescue personnel.
• Drones assisted rescuers locate and stabilize more than 200 individuals in a series of devastating floods in India in 2015.
• More than half of drone rescues were performed in areas where rising floodwaters left people stranded and endangered.

Regulatory Burden

• There are currently more than 150 individual state laws concerning drones; 19 drone laws were enacted in 2016, and 15 new laws were enacted as of July 2017.
• 12 states currently support overly restrictive and vague legislation, often criminalizing drone operations authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Some states went as far as to create new drone-specific crimes rather than addressing drones under existing privacy laws or codes that govern other technologies. These states include: California, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Florida, Wisconsin, and Tennessee.