Drone Research for Road User Safety

National Highways is looking to hire specialized technical consultants to conduct research on the safe reduction of separation distances between drones operated by or on behalf of National Highways and road users. Currently, the permitted distance is 50 meters, and the goal is to determine if this can be safely reduced to as low as 10 meters without distracting drivers. This research is crucial as it could allow for more drone flights to support increasing business demands. The use of drones for National Highways is regulated by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidelines and their own Drone Standard. Any project intending to use drones must submit a Safety Risk Assessment to demonstrate that using a drone is at least as safe as traditional methods. The CAA allows for reduced separation distances if the drone operator has an Operation Safety Case approved by them. Additionally, the Drone Operations Standard permits reduced distances with acceptance from the relevant safety review groups. However, previous approvals for flights closer than 50 meters have been limited to specific situations where the flights are visible to drivers, and there is a need for risk mitigation due to insufficient research on driver distraction at these shorter distances.