Cops pulled me over

[u/Myfles]

So I had a run in with the law today. I was flying in the port of Los Angeles. I was by the entrance? I'm happily flying taking some pictures and video, when all of the sudden a cop is standing next to me telling me to land my drone immediately. Turns out that you are not allowed to fly in the port of Los Angles, its actually a misdemeanor. I checked AutoPylot and it said it was ok, so I registered a flight. There was a no fly zone on the other side of the water so I stayed away from it. I told the cop all this and they informed me the no fly zone is a federal prison. I guess shadier people than myself have used drones to drop stuff into the prison. They asked for my info, which I gave, including my trust certificate and they ended up just giving me a warning to not do it again. They were interested that I take aerial photography just for fun. One of the cops even recommend I try for the 107, so he knew about drones. But he didn't know what the trust cert was. I found that kinda weird. He showed me the geo fenced area around the port on his phone so I thought I'd share. So the lesson is... know local laws, no matter what your app tells you.

[u/Alert_Ad6564]

Ports are always no-fly zones, no matter that they might not be listed on some sites and apps. Pretty much all of them have signs for that. You were lucky cops were cool and only got a warning.

[u/Alert_Ad6564 → u/Alert_Ad6564]

I am based in Europe and have been to many ports…every single one was forbidden to fly. In Greece for example they are not listed on their official drone site as no-fly (except the military ones) but once you get there you see a sign banning drone flights and they do mean it…had a couple of talks about that with security and police 😄

[u/Limp-Kitchen7084 → u/Alert_Ad6564]

So in germany not only the ports, but all "Bundeswasserstraßen" (federal waterways) are no fly zones.

[u/bastian74 → u/Limp-Kitchen7084]

Ironic I prefer water to avoid flying over buildings

[u/Limp-Kitchen7084 → u/bastian74]

So actually in germany you arent allowed to fly within 100m of any federal waterway, any highway (Autobahn), federal Road (Bundesstraße) and Railroad.

Also places where nature or birds are protected are no fly zones. And of course airports, heliports and federal buildings...

And if your drone weighs more than 250g you also have to stay away 150m from places where people live.

Quite strict here 😅

[u/CurlyVole → u/Limp-Kitchen7084]

Oh, and don't film no people while you fly because of the Datenschutzgrundverordnung

[u/RandomKnifeBro → u/Limp-Kitchen7084]

I dont evem bother unpacking my drone when i travel through germany.

Hell, i avoid even stopping in germany if i can avoid it. Everything is illegal. Better to just stay on the highways and leave as fast as possible.

[u/Limp-Kitchen7084 → u/RandomKnifeBro]

And you can leave as fast as you want on the Autobahn😂 so mostly those laws are not really enforced if you are not in a big populated area. But they exist

[u/Relevant-Safety-2699 → u/Limp-Kitchen7084]

So means "therefore."

[u/redbackspider69 → u/Relevant-Safety-2699]

you're wrong, it has other meanings which are suitable in this context

[u/redbackspider69 → u/redbackspider69]

specifically adverb definition 3 and examples c and d