Drones May Be Watching Ontario Highways in 2018

November 30, 2017, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

The Ontario Government has announced that it is considering the use of highway patrol drones to monitor us on our highways. The intent, not unlike photo radar, is to provide cost effective enforcement of laws on our roadways. The reaction, not unlike with photo radar, is that we risk privacy issues by allowing this to occur.

The Province wants to begin enforcement on the roads of the HOT (high occupancy lanes), and is being touted as the use of ‘innovative technologies to solve everyday problems’.

Drones are highly mobile and cost effective. They have powerful enough cameras to read the licence plates and see into the vehicles. They can stay aloft for up to 24 hours making them very flexible tools. Once can see that this technology could also be used to enforce distracted driving laws, aggressive driving infractions and speeding.

Currently legislation does not permit drones to fly out of the visual range of an operator. Other legislative hurdles remain as well regarding privacy.

Makers of the drones have said that they can easily develop software that will obscure personal information, and that any solutions they develop for the government will adhere to relevant privacy laws.

We’ll have to see how this story develops. Drones could certainly be a useful tool in the police arsenal for enforcement. Privacy concerns may not be greater than those posed by the tens of thousands of CCTV cameras that are already on our city streets.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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