Hoverboards: Unsafe At Any Speed?
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Recalls
2015 marked the 30th anniversary of the Back to the Future trilogy, and homages to the films were everywhere throughout the year. This was especially true of the second movie, which involves a sequence that takes place in 2015 and features all kinds of futuristic technology: flying cars, holograms on the street, instant food cookers, and hoverboards, the ultimate evolution in skateboards. The filmmakers weren’t aiming for realistic predictions of where we’d be in 30 years, of course, but the celebration brought a lot of attention to a few devices marketed as hoverboards.The Product
While the hoverboard in Back to the Future Part II lived up to the name by being able to maintain a height several inches above the ground, real life hoverboards are somewhat disappointing to anyone hoping to recreate the movie’s iconic chase scene.
Rather than being a flying skateboard, the products called hoverboards are self-balancing scooters designed along the same lines as the Segway. The wheels are smaller and there’s no handle, making it a sportier version of the same design, and while they may not live up to their namesake they’re by all accounts fun enough to generate some buzz beyond the homage to a classic movie.
On the other hand, the design is rather unsafe, both to the user and to other pedestrians, and hoverboards have been banned in several cities along with New York state in general. Of course, this risk is part of the appeal to the sort of person who would purchase this product, but then there are some other hazards which aren’t nearly so forgivable.
The Problem
It may be a result of a desire to cash in on the Back to the Future craze, but either way it’s become clear that the hoverboards made by any manufacturer aren’t ready for prime time. The small boards, it seems, don’t have enough cooling power or insulation to keep their electronics from overheating and catching on fire, because that’s exactly what they’re doing all across the country. The number of fires stands at 52, and it’s quickly going up.
While most consumer products are only subject to a voluntary third-party safety certification, the Consumer Products Safety Commission has the power to make this certification mandatory and to recall or seize any unlicensed products – and at this point, that includes every hoverboard on the market. Most retailers have already stopped selling the products, and now that the CPSC has issued its declaration, the manufacturers themselves are following suit.
All that being said, however, hoverboards may not be going away permanently. The companies making these products are already