Washington State to fly paint-spraying drones to battle graffiti

In a new form of aerial application repurposing, legislators in the state of Washington have passed a law permitting the use of drones to similar to those in agricultural crop treatment to spray paint the growing number of graffiti tags.

After their uses by police and in battling wildfires, drones will now be tested in Washington following the passage of House Bill 1989, which was recently signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee. Once it comes into effect in early June, the measure will allow Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to use UAVs to spray paint over proliferating graffiti, particularly in along sections of highway between Seattle and Tacoma. 

But in addition to “field testing spray drone technology for the purpose of more efficiently painting over existing graffiti,” the law also calls for authorities in Washington to prevent – or at least punish – future taggers. In doing so, they’re to “investigate and test improvements to systems capable of identifying persons who damage property with graffiti” from hovering UAVs.

Law sponsor Representative Andrew Barkis told Washington radio station KIRO why use of spray drones to paint over graffiti made sense.

“Two guys can sit in the truck, operate the drone and paint over it so they can keep after this quicker and get it covered faster and less expensive,” he said, after earlier describing why he’d decided to battle tagging in the first place. 

“The explosion of graffiti in our state has become a serious concern that demands an immediate and comprehensive response,” Barkis said in a published statement. “This bill acknowledges the frustration Washingtonians feel about graffiti on our roadways and sends a clear message that enough is enough.”

But deploying drones to spray paint graffiti on pillars or walls won’t be enough to eliminate the problem in a lot of the other places where it’s turning up along Washington’s streets. 

In a much-cited WSDOT blog post last year describing the $1.4 million it spent removing tags over the past two years, the organization provided an example that paint spraying drones would have only worsened. 

“In this case, the graffiti defaced the entirety of the directional signs, and they were not able to be salvaged,” the post read. “Our team is still calculating the final bill, but replacing both signs is estimated to be between $40,000 and $50,000. That includes labor, equipment, and materials.”

But not a drone – at least until someone invents onboard paint removal tech.

Image: Unsplash