Unmanned drones, the kind we are used to reading about being used in Afghanistan might soon be used over US skies for trivial uses such as speeding tickets. The FAA is being pressured to allow unmanned drones the ability to fly over US airspace for law enforcement purposes.

Officials are worried that they might plow into airliners, cargo planes and corporate jets that zoom around at high altitudes, or helicopters and hot air balloons that fly as low as a few hundred feet off the ground.

On top of that, these pilotless aircraft come in a variety of sizes. Some are as big as a small airliner, others the size of a backpack. The tiniest are small enough to fly through a house window.

The obvious risks have not deterred the civilian demand for pilotless planes. Tornado researchers want to send them into storms to gather data. Energy companies want to use them to monitor pipelines.

State police hope to send them up to capture images of speeding cars’ license plates. Local police envision using them to track fleeing suspects.

The predator drone could be used in this case, since it flies at 50,000+ feet and you’d never see it. If it did drop down to where you could see it, you’d be faced with a drone that has a 66 foot wingspan. That’s enough to scare the crap out of a fleeing suspect or speeder and cause a crash.

Like many robots, the planes have advantages over humans for jobs that are dirty, dangerous or dull. And the planes often cost less than piloted aircraft and can stay aloft far longer.

The government feels that the FAA isn’t moving fast enough to come up with a plan, however, the FAA rightly states that there is much more air traffic in the USA than in Afghanistan. The FAA must adhere to numerous safety regulations. It also must have contingency plans for when something goes wrong.

One major concern is the prospect of lost communication between unmanned aircraft and the operators who remotely control them. Another is a lack of firm separation of aircraft at lower altitudes, away from major cities and airports. Planes entering these areas are not required to have collision warning systems or even transponders. Simply being able to see another plane and take action is the chief means of preventing accidents.

Once the safety issues and political maneuvering are taken care of, the drones will likely be put into place at first along the border (where many drones already serve) and in safety situations. Once the public is used to using the drones to prevent accidents and rescue people, the majority of the drones will be used to fill the states’ coffers with money from speeding tickets.