Drone videos capturing banned motocross races spark legal battle

It’s the sort of legal conflict likely to proliferate as the number of UAVs flown by private users continues to multiply. A couple in Massachusetts is threatening “criminal harassment” charges against neighbors who used drones to capture video evidence of continuing motocross races on their property that officials previously ordered to cease.

That demonstration of the-best-defense-is-offence tactic arose in the Taunton suburb of Berkeley, located about 35 miles south of Boston. According to reports in the local Taunton Daily Gazette, municipal authorities ordered the regular dirtbike activity to be halted last year after neighbors complained about the noise, creation of dust clouds, and influx of traffic to the sprawling property of dirt roads over undulating hills. When the motocross activity continued unabated, a pair of locals pulled out their drones to take video evidence for officials to take further action with.