Regulating drones now? The people who fly drones responsibly already take note of the Drone Code etc. The people who will cause a 'possible' incident are those who won't follow the Drone Code, or any rules for that matter. Irresponsible flying creates panic in the media. Still, I note not a single aircraft anywhere at this time (that I can find) has been hit by a drone.
Here's an example of something: You own 50 acres of land and have some livestock. The weather is bad, you use a drone to go and quickly check to make sure all livestock is alive and well. You are at no more than 400'. You're out at 500m. It's your land. You have actually put a notam out to inform the aviation community about the operation for up to 1 hour. So, a local ppl holder has a small microlight in a nearby village strip, decides to get airborne, flies over your land at 400' and flies into the drone (UAV), and ends up having to make a forced landing in your field. So, who is to blame, or more importantly which way do you think the media would sway? I know what would happen.
Stop with the media sensationalism. Yes be pro-active but please, let's keep it sensible. The drone industry is likely to be a multi-billion$$$ industry in 2017. It's a fact of life they aren't going away anytime soon.
Yes, use geofencing systems. (we already have this)
Yes, register anything bigger than say 500g at Point of Purchase (this would make people think twice that their details are recorded already)
Don't add more bureaucracy to the already overloaded CAA (uk anyway) its taking months for them to turn around renewal of PfCO's.