A little more phantom info. First remember that Phantoms are flying cameras capable of 4K HD video and 12mb stills, most of us are into photograph more than flying. The flight software in a prosumer drone like my P4 is basically similar to modern airliners in a way. I can fly in 3 ways.
1). P mode. This mode is computer controlled via GPS and sensors, you are 'flying' but the software takes care most of the adjustments for you. If you hover in place at 100ft AGL it will stay in place, the software is compensating for wind etc. Fly it 400 feet forward and it will travel in a straight line compensating for wind etc. Many nights I send mine up to 300 feet and hover in place for 20 mins trying to get a decent sunset shot. You can crash but you almost have to do it on purpose. Obviously the automation can fail, single loss etc. can occur and that's where the build in failsafe comes to play. They try to go home or land depending on battery life, horizontal obstacle and ground avoidance sensors etc.
2). A or S modes. No GPS/computer control. A gust of wind will take it into a tree, you have to fly it manually. Not great if you are trying to take video or photos. I can fly mine manually but only learnt to do so in case of automation failure, well and it's fun if you in the mood. Kind of like you guys argue about manually flying jets to keep up your skill level.
3). Full on Auto pilot. Pre programed waypoint 'missions', follow me mode, point of interest mode, click to fly and other 100% automated flights. Again, these modes are designed for photography and have all the failsafe features built in.
As far as distance. Urban I could get about a mile range but personally I don't like flying that far for obvious reasons. Ideal conditions like over water or up in the mountains I regularly fly 3 miles out and then back. It's safe, remote, not much to hit and worst case my toy is lost. I'm at or under 400ft AGL.
No fly zones. Modern prosumer drones now have databases for airports, national parks, Trump Tower just got added as a matter of fact. They will not let you take off or fly into a NFZ. If you try they will stop and hover.
The cheap sub $200 toy drones don't have all this software but those things are so light and flimsy you spend most of your time trying to get them out of trees.
Hope this helps a bit and also remember us drone guys are also hapless SLF in your world, typically with their drone in the overhead actually LOL..