The federal government is laying down the law on hoverboards, which have a disconcerting tendency to burst into flames.
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According to a report today, Mashable obtained a letter (embedded below) that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sent to retailers and manufacturers of these “self-balancing scooters” asking them to voluntarily stop selling them until they can be certified as safe.
The CPSC also released a video of their own hoverboard testing, in which they state they are “actively investigating hoverboard falls and fires” as their “engineers and scientists are testing new and damaged hoverboards at the agency’s lab”, in Rockville, Maryland.
Hoverboard makers could get hit with recalls if they don’t get their acts together. “If they are certain that it doesn’t, they should then issue a recall proposal”. However, the notice lays out new safety standards that could bring serious penalties (fines, civil and criminal legal action, and seizure of products) against retailers, manufacturers and importers.
The commission said it has received reports from consumers in 24 states of 52 self-balancing scooter fires between December 1, 2015 and February 17, 2016.
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“We believe that numerous reported incidents, and the related unreasonable risk of injuries and deaths associated with fires in these products, would be prevented if all such products were manufactured in compliance with the referenced voluntary safety standards”, CPSC says.
