[HN Gopher] Drone pilot to plead guilty in collision that ground...
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       Drone pilot to plead guilty in collision that grounded aircraft
        
       Author : belter
       Score  : 16 points
       Date   : 2025-01-31 19:31 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.latimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.latimes.com)
        
       | jakedata wrote:
       | If you squint, it looks like attempted murder. They let him off
       | easy.
        
         | basementcat wrote:
         | Apparently killing people is not the taboo it used to be. Even
         | 20 million lives currently threatened by the PEPFAR shutdown is
         | hardly registering in the public consciousness here in the
         | West.
        
           | jakedata wrote:
           | 20 million lives were threatened before politics changed in
           | stupid ways and they will continue to be threatened after. It
           | is an abstract concept to most people. If you operate your
           | car unsafely - for instance by driving drunk and crashing
           | into a fire truck - you will rapidly find out how quickly
           | that registers in the consciousness of members of the public
           | in a very concrete manner.
        
         | echoangle wrote:
         | Honest question: How can it be murder if it is not intentional?
         | Or are you saying he did this to kill the crew of the plane?
         | 
         | Wouldn't it be Involuntary manslaughter if he just flew the
         | drone and didn't take care of the airspace?
        
           | jakedata wrote:
           | It depends on whether it was done intentionally and with
           | reckless disregard for human life. If the drone operator was
           | intoxicated and caused the plane to crash it could very well
           | be vehicular homicide.
        
             | echoangle wrote:
             | No it couldn't, operating a drone isn't ,,driving a
             | vehicle" as required for vehicular manslaughter in
             | California. And vehicular manslaughter isn't murder either.
        
               | jakedata wrote:
               | Please refer to California Assembly Bill No. 678, CHAPTER
               | 747 [Approved by Governor October 14, 2007. Filed with
               | Secretary of State October 14, 2007]
               | 
               | Now I will grant you, a good defense lawyer would try to
               | claim that killing someone with a remotely operated drone
               | does not constitute "the operation of a motor vehicle,
               | aircraft, or water vehicle that results in injury or
               | death" but if you squint, it just might if they could
               | prove intoxication.
        
               | echoangle wrote:
               | But the point still stands, even if it were vehicular
               | manslaughter, it wouldn't be murder.
        
         | demarq wrote:
         | I'm eternally grateful this individual isn't a judge
        
       | Pwntastic wrote:
       | non-paywalled link:
       | https://12ft.io/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/202...
        
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       (page generated 2025-01-31 23:01 UTC)