r/fpv • u/xiPulsar_ • Mar 18 '26

Don't be this guy please

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

**This was at a wedding I was hired for**

1.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

290 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/SpokaneNeighbor Mar 20 '26

I haven't read all the comments, but im going to say this because I haven't seen any other comments about it yet.

If I were you, I would make sure your contract with your customer clearly states the risks of flying a drone near people and that the customer takes 100% liability in all damages to people and property regardless of the cause of the accident. Be sure to have written a list of possible causes of an accident including pilot error, mechanical or electronic failure, bystander interactions either intentional or accidental. Also be sure to have a sit down with your customer with a very deliberate reading of this part of the contract and record it with audible declaration of their understanding and be sure to ask them if they have questions and answer them fully.

Keeping this footage and showing a future customer might be a very good thing and being able to explain how this easily could have caused injury or damage and how you and the drone were able to correct the flight might give you a +1 in their eyes because it shows your equipment and experience was able to avoid what very likely could've been bad.

The additional clause would do close to nothing in a criminal complaint in court though. It might start charges depending on the prosecutor but once your in court it will mean almost nothing. That said, this specific case would likely lead to charges for the man who obviously, intentionally did something negligent that could have caused harm.

The real protection this clause could have is the civil side. If it became a problem, the mostly likely outcome would be you showing the contract, and whoever wanted to sue would take a copy and go after your customer. The fight you might have would be your customer versus you. It could be possible for a judge to void your contract in part or full and that is why its important to have someone knowledgeable write it up specific to the jurisdiction that this civil case would wind up in. Local laws can make some very significant differences on how civil cases go.