Only a few years ago the price of a drone was so far out of the average household’s reach that you probably didn’t know anyone who owned one. Look around you now. You probably know many drone owners. In five years perhaps most people will own one. That’s because they have become smaller, cheaper, and are getting cheaper still.

Drones are not just a hobby. They serve many useful business purposes: Inspecting cellphone towers, shooting pictures for multidimensional real estate portfolios, maybe eventually even delivering pizza. But they can also be put to nefarious or negligent use: Snooping on people, following or harassing them, interfering with other aircraft.

Want to see a cool video?  Watch this one of one drone capturing another:

Today this Central New York personal injury lawyer was quoted in a prestigious world-wide newspaper, the Financial Times.  The newspaper has an average daily readership of 2.2 million worldwide and has 4.5 million registered users and over 285,000 digital subscribers.  Many investment professionals rely on the Times for discerning economic and investment trends.

The article was titled, “Drones Crash into Regulatory Thicket”. The quote, taken from a telephone interview with me, went like this:

Michael Bersani, a personal injury lawyer in Auburn, New York, said he was expecting an increase in drone-related injury cases, but had not seen any uptick in drone injuries this Christmas. “I think it’s a question of time, because you’ve got the inexperienced recipients of these gifts, and there is plenty of potential for people to be injured”.

I have recently blogged about New York drone personal injuries and about getting drone insurance.  Today I have an important reminder for all new blog owners (specifically to those of you who have received one for Christmas) that you need to REGISTER the drone before you fly it outdoors.

Specifically, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on December 14, 2015 that small unmanned aircraft (UAS), otherwise known as drones, weighing more than 0.55 pounds and less than 55 pounds, must be registered. Even a child flying a drone in the backyard has to register!  The three-year registration is only $5 registration, but the FAA is waiving the fee from December 21, 2015 to January 20, 2106 for new drone owners. You will also be required to have your FAA registration certificate in your possession when operating your drone.

If the owner of the drone is less than 13 years of age, then a person 13 or older is required to register the drone.

Drones! They’re everywhere! Officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAV’s, they come in all sizes and at all prices. Some are as small as a flying insect. Others are full-sized airplanes on bombing missions. They’re used in agriculture, construction, photography, engineering, real estate and many other industries, but now, most recently, they are used just for fun. Among other recreational uses, they’re the new “selfie stick” – fly it over and away from your guests and snap a picture of the whole crew!

700,000 drones have been sold this year in the USA. Every year the number of drones sold quadruples! It is predicted that 400,000 more will be sold this holiday season. You can get one on Amazon for just $50 – with a camera. They’re the hot-selling Christmas gift this year.

They might also be the most dangerous Christmas gifts we have yet seen. Yes, this Christmas we are way past the days of shooting your eye out with a Red Ryder BB gun. We’ve come from “every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings” to “every time a drone passes you might get dinged”. Example: Recently a New York restaurant launched “mistletoe drone” that flew from table to table to coax patrons into kissing on camera. It was a lot of fun and romance until the mobile mistletoe plummeted like a reindeer dropping and mauled a patron’s nose with its unguarded rotor. (I suppose she could have played the part of Rudolph after that).