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P1A number of companies are now experimenting with delivering online purchases by drone rather than by road. This development brings clear benefits but also raises significant problems, both of which deserve consideration.

P2The advantages are mainly speed and efficiency. Drones can travel in a straight line, unaffected by traffic congestion, so parcels, including urgent items such as medicines or blood for hospitals, could reach customers within minutes rather than days. Because they are electric and bypass road networks, drones could also cut the fuel use and emissions associated with conventional delivery vans, and reach remote or rural communities that are slow and expensive to serve by truck. For businesses, lower delivery costs and faster service would be a considerable competitive advantage.

P3The disadvantages, however, are not trivial. Large numbers of drones flying over towns and cities raise serious concerns about safety, since a malfunction could send a heavy machine crashing onto the people below, and about privacy, as airborne cameras pass over homes and gardens. The constant buzzing of delivery drones would add a new and intrusive form of noise pollution to urban life, and the technology could displace the many workers currently employed in delivery. Airspace would also need careful regulation to prevent mid-air collisions.