Hoverboards misnomered, yes, but mismanufactured,misused, or misrepresented?

Since the invention of the wheel, man has been intent on dreaming up different ways to ride it. From buggies to bikes, trollies to trucks, railways to rollerskates. For some reason, man has also long-pined for the ability to ditch the wheel and simply float a vessel just inches from the earth. And, apparently, man has grown so impatient with his inability to produce (on a widespread scale, anyway) the latter that he went ahead and altered its very definition. Enter the hoverboard.

It was like a skateboard meets a Segway, and it was pretty darn nifty. Actually, it still is. It can accommodate riders of varying age, height, and weight. It’s portable. It can give you a smooth ride around five or six miles per hour, roughly the pace of a moderate jog. And it’s available in every imaginable color, including some shiny metallics. Sure, it sets you back $300 to $800, but it’s more than a toy; it’s transportation, right?

This application necessitates unplugged operation, and in recent weeks it has come to light that some batteries and chargers for the self-balancing motorized scooters can be prone to explosion, creating a substantial safety and fire risk. Some of the fires have been directly linked to low-quality rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in some versions of hoverboards, which can explode when punctured. But the cause of the fires for the population of this product has not proven conclusive enough for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

In a statement issued on December 16, 2015, CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye stated, “CPSC field investigators are actively investigating hoverboard-related fires across the country and will open new cases as they come to our attention. We have purchased boards in the marketplace and we have taken possession of boards that caught fire.” The commission is investigating several dozen reports of fires in 19 states.

And on January 20, in an update on the investigation posted to the CSPC website, Kaye stated that his panel was consulting with test laboratories, lithium-ion battery representatives, and other outside experts to verify safe design practices for use of lithium-ion batteries in hoverboards. “There are certain basic safety technologies we expect these units to have that should prevent overheating and potential combustion,” the agency head asserted. “These are the same readily-available technologies that exist in properly manufactured lithium-ion batteries used in the notebook computers and cell phones we all use every day.”

As if the fire-related PR nightmare was not enough for the personal scooters, just weeks before Christmas, the CPSC also reported that it had received numerous reports of injuries related to falls from hoverboards, including concussions, fractures, contusions/abrasion, and internal organ injuries.

In his most recent statement, the CPSC Chairman recognized that such injuries could be dismissed as user error or carelessness. “However, I am concerned, for example, that the current designs of these products might not take fully into consideration the different weights of different users, potentially leading to the units speeding up or lurching in a manner that a user would not have reason to anticipate, especially a first-time user,” Kaye challenged. “We are looking deeper into the design of these products to see if they present a hidden hazard that is leading to fall injuries that should not occur, even on a product that presents some risk of falling.”

Daniel Island resident and board-certified orthopaedic surgeon Keith Santiago has personally seen half a dozen injuries from hoverboard riders in the weeks following Christmas. Santiago is one of 11 orthopaedic surgeons in the Lowcountry Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine group in North Charleston. “I am concerned about the hoverboard-related injuries that we have begun to see in our practice, such as arm and leg fractures,” he notes, adding that other injuries have included contusions and sprains and that the majority of injured are teens.

The doctor attributes the injuries to a combination of careless operation, such as use in the house near obstacles and not wearing safety gear, and the “inherently dangerous” nature of elements of the hoverboards’ operation. “Patients expressed that it is tough to get the second foot off the hoverboard safely, as the remaining foot on the hoverboard continues to activate it to keep moving,” he related. “The hoverboard can also go very fast without an easy breaking mechanism. Core muscle strength and balance is required to use a hoverboard.”

More than 30 colleges and universities nationwide have banned the devices, alerting students via email over the holidays to not bring hoverboards when they returned to campus for the spring semester. In the Palmetto State, both the University of South Carolina and Coastal Carolina University have issued hoverboard bans.

The self-balancing scooters are also prohibited on New York City streets and sidewalks, with violators facing fines up to $500 and impounding of their device. In the United Kingdom, hoverboards may only be used on private property.

Most major U.S. airlines, and many more international carriers, have banned hoverboards from their aircraft. And many airports, with Charleston International among them, are no longer permitting the use of the devices on property. Amtrak has also banned the scooters.

In mid-December, at the height of holiday shopping, Amazon halted sales of all hoverboards. It has since resumed selling devices from makers that can demonstrate their products’ safety, but is also accepting returns of all hoverboards purchased through its website for a full refund.

Despite all the controversy surrounding the hoverboard, our readership (or at least those responding to our survey – see results in sidebar) painted an overall picture of consumer satisfaction and rider joy. Still, this scooter’s saga is likely to continue, with man’s latest wheeled phenomenon either finding design redemption and consumer confidence, or going the way of the old baby roller-walkers.

SURVEY SAYS!

Many thanks to hoverboard-having readers, primarily parents of young riders, responding to our online survey. Here’s what you told us: • Most of the respondents’ hoverboards were purchased from Amazon or Sharper Image, though one was brought back from a trip to China. • The youngest respondent rider was eight, the oldest was 63, and age 12 was the mode (that’s the value occurring most often, for those of us reaching way, WAY back to fourth grade math). • Only 27% of respondent riders received any kind of “training” on the hoverboard, beyond written product instructions, and supplementary prep came in the form of practice with experienced friends and YouTube videos. • Of those responding, just one reader said their rider wears a helmet while using the hoverboard, though 20% conceded injuries had occurred, from small scrapes to a broken arm. • While one parent reported confining hoverboard use to inside the house, most others are permitting use in garages, in home driveways, and on sidewalks in front of house or a friend’s house. A few others allow travel between homes on the sidewalks, in island parks, and over a 100-yard section of the street. • One respondent cites being plagued with mechanical issues, having to return hoverboards not once, but twice. No other glitches – including fires – were noted. And, other than the aforementioned exchange, no hoverboards have been returned by respondents.

ADDITIONAL READER COMMENTS

“I would like to add that this is a ‘toy’ that requires some skill. It should be used practically with supervision near by, not cruising around in high traffic areas. All for kids being outside!”

“Get a life and stop this nonsense: it is much more important that you enforce use of front lights on bicycles at night than worry about hoverboards. Nobody on DI uses proper lighting while riding at night! Much more dangerous than no helmets!”

“I would like to include something for you though I have no child with one. No one I’ve seen has had a helmet on. Several around me. They move along quickly on the sidewalk; hard to be sure where they are when backing out of driveway. They are on top of you before you know it when they are moving right along. My daughter is a physician and all of her ER, primary care and orthopedic friends are seeing lots of injuries from the boards. Lots of head injuries because they hit the back of their head when they fall off, which is usually backwards.”

Daniel Island Publishing

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Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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