What You Need To Know Before Buying A Hoverboard
BOSTON (CBS) - It's happened again. Another fire reportedly caused by a hoverboard, one of the most popular purchases this holiday season. This time in a mall in Washington state that forced them to evacuate the complex.
So what's going on? When you buy a product you assume it's going to be safe. But with these relatively new products, some safety experts say the technology is ahead of the regulations, and buyers should beware.
One hoverboard owner in Florida says his caught fire on the sidewalk. "I came down the sidewalk, not even probably a hundred feet, and it exploded. Boom!" says Timothy Cade. And a woman in Louisiana says her house burned after her son's hoverboard caught fire while charging. "I just seen sparks, shooting like a firework," she says.
We spoke to the Consumer Product Safety Commission about this and learned that it is investigating six hoverboard fires in six different states. And WBZ-TV news has also learned there was a fire just a few weeks ago locally, in Somerville, reportedly caused by a hoverboard.
"They're hugely popular and there has been a long string of incidents," says Joan Siff, the president of W.A.T.C.H, a Massachusetts safety group that issues lists of dangerous toys every year.
Though these electric scooters, which can cost from $200 to $2000, are not just for kids, Siff says there hasn't been adequate testing or regulation of the products. "Until a product can be shown to be safe, it just shouldn't be out there. Otherwise children, adults, are being used unknowingly in real life testing labs. The product should not be tested on consumers to find out if they are safe," Siff says.
"They all look the same on the outside, but it's what's on the inside that's most important," says Stavros Christiansen, the co-owner of Future X, an Arizona store that sells hoverboards. He blames the problem on cheap knockoffs of the boards. "They were cutting costs and how did they cut costs? They put in a cheap battery, and that's going to be the outcome," he says.
Other technology and fire safety groups have issued warnings about hoverboards. C-Net advises not to buy one that costs less than $300, and the National Association of Fire Marshals says, don't leave the board unattended when it's charging. Of course there have also been a number of people injured falling off the boards, so you really need to use helmets and other pads.
The National Assoc. of State Fire Marshals has issued safety information. You can find that HERE.