The acceptance of civil drones in Germany

Abstract

In recent years, civil drones have become more and more visible in everyday life. There are numerous reports in the media covering a variety of drone aspects and technical developments. In addition, everyone is used to bird's-eye views as common features in television, movies and photography. However, little is known about how the public perceives this development. This article reports the results of a representative national study on the acceptance of civilian drones. Overall, a balanced but slightly positive attitude towards civil drones was revealed. Factors analyzed include age, gender, place of residence or interest in technical matters, as well as the individual level of knowledge about the topic. Free verbal associations with the general term drone are described as well as concerns about the usage of civil drones. Concerning different applications of civil drones, results indicate clear approval in Germany for the use of drones in civil protection, rescue missions and research work. However, flights for advertising, leisure and parcel delivery purposes are disagreed with by at least half of those questioned. In the presentation of the results, this article describes social acceptance of civilian drones and thus helps to better understand the perception of civil unmanned aerial vehicles.

Sustainable Urban Air Mobility Supported with Participatory Noise Sensing

“…Currently, the usage of air taxis has only garnered limited acceptance among the public. In a representative study conducted in Germany in 2018 [15], 86% of the respondents in a telephone survey indicated they would not use air taxis. Moreover, even being positive about using UAM does not necessarily mean to accept it flying above the own dwelling: among the 14% of respondents who agreed either fully (4.9%) or slightly (9.2%) with the prospect of using unmanned air taxis, only two out of three would accept air taxis flying above their home during daytime, and less than half would agree to night-time flyovers [16].…”

“…Concerns connected with mishaps all raised concerns in the range of 72% to 75%, followed closely by concerns about animal welfare. Concerns about noise were confirmed less frequently (53%) [15]. However, among all concerns, those relating to noise are the strongest predictor of acceptance of civil drones: people who are concerned about noise show least acceptance [19].…”

Supporting Urban Air Mobility with Citizen Participatory Noise Sensing: A Concept

“…Furthermore the usage of air taxis finds only little acceptance among the public. In a representative study in Germany, 85% of the respondents in a telephone survey indicated they would not use air taxis [7]. Even among those who would consider using UAM, their acceptance is likely to vanish when air taxis are flying above their house or workplace.…”

Drone Noise Emission Characteristics and Noise Effects on Humans—A Systematic Review

“…However, to establish drone noise standards and legislations to address and minimize noise issues, among others, a profound knowledge of acoustical characteristics depending on operational procedures as well as related health impacts on the population is necessary. Limiting the noise impact on the population at an early stage is crucial, even more so because the opinion of the population on drones still seems to be forming [ 4 ]. Thus, the acceptance might develop rather advantageously or disadvantageously for drones, depending on the perceived relative importance of benefits or (noise) risks by drones [ 1 , 4 ].…”

“…Limiting the noise impact on the population at an early stage is crucial, even more so because the opinion of the population on drones still seems to be forming [ 4 ]. Thus, the acceptance might develop rather advantageously or disadvantageously for drones, depending on the perceived relative importance of benefits or (noise) risks by drones [ 1 , 4 ].…”