Office of Operations
21st Century Operations Using 21st Century Technologies

Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Traffic Incident Management

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United States Department of Transportation logo.

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov

FHWA-HOP-20-063

February 2022


Table of Contents

[ Notice and Quality Assurance Statement ] | [ Technical Report Documentation ] | [ SI Modern Metric Conversion Factors ]| [ List of Acronyms ]

Chapter 1. Introduction

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Described

Operating Environment for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Certificate of Authorization and 107 Waiver

State Laws for Law Enforcement Agencies

Chapter 2. Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Traffic Incident Management

Quick Clearance Strategy

Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Other Traffic Incident Management-Related Purposes

Chapter 3. Benefits of Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Traffic Incident Management

Chapter 4. Implementing Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Traffic Incident Management

Having Clear Objectives and Mission Focus

Privacy, Community Engagement, and Support

Training, Safety, And Data Security

Written Policies and Procedures

Funding

Program Evaluation

List of Figures

Figure 1. Map. U.S. police agencies using unmanned aircraft systems (does not include Alaska (3 agencies) and Hawaii (2 agencies)).

Figure 2. Photo. A sample Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 remote pilot certificate.

Figure 3. Photo. Example of measurements from photographs.

Figure 4. Screenshot. Florida Highway Patrol unmanned aerial vehicle live feed images.

Figure 5. Photo. Emergency applications for unmanned aircraft systems.

Figure 6. Photo. Roadway images to support tow operator assessment.

Figure 7. Photo. Puerto Rico Traffic Incident Management training practicum with Unmanned Aircraft System.

Figure 8. Slide. Key results slide from Washington State Patrol presentation.