this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2026
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Well when they crash the company needs to replace the whole drone, so they are probably going to try to avoid that when possible.
That said, they should have to obey faa regs, but while the laws for private use are pretty clear, the commercial use regulations are layered and sort of in flux. Major operators are always pushing to have laws adjusted, and because leadership in the US is generally overly supportive of big business, those changes often go into place.
In other words, there ARE laws, but you know, it's the US, so they can probably change them.
I think this will depend less on the FAA and more on local jurisdiction. the FAA doesn't really have that much restrictions in place for low altitude drones (< 400 ft) they require it to be registered due to commercial but, the 2026 modifications for usage removed a lot of the safety barriers and controls that were in place for them. Now it's basically as long as its registered and the lights are bright enough to be seen, it's allowed unless there's a local law forbidding it.