FAA’s Safety Rules for Commercial Drones Are Overly Strict, Report Says

Report concludes agency should peg drone safety to hazards such as those posed by small private-plane crashes or pedestrian-vehicle accidents

The commercial drone industry is being stifled by unnecessarily stringent federal safety rules enforced by regulators who frequently pay only lip service to easing restrictions or streamlining decision-making, according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The unusually strongly worded report released Monday urges “top-to-bottom” changes in how the Federal Aviation Administration assesses and manages risks from drones.

...