The Downside of Hoverboards

Below is a hoverboard, a battery-powered self-propelling means of transit for people who find walking too slow or tedious.

I saw many, many, many hoverboards last January and February when I was in Southern California.  Here are a few shots of people hoverboarding (if that's the term) along the boardwalk in Venice and Santa Monica.

At the time, I assumed the whole country had adopted the hoverboard habit and I was just a late adopter, as usual.

But no.

Hoverboards only moved into the rest of the country later, when the warm weather arrived.

By this Christmas, hoverboards were the new, hot gift.

Perhaps too hot.  It appears there are better hoverboards and worse hoverboards.  All are powered by lithium ion batteries, the sort of batteries used in cellphones, cameras and, among the older set, pacemakers.  Clearly some of these bigger lithium ion batteries are better than others.

I read the other day that a hoverboard burst into flames near the Jersey Shore, burning part of a house.  Sadly, this had happened before.

Now the new trend in hoverboards is how dangerous they are.  Here's a recent news report.



I learned three things from this report that put me off the idea of getting a hoverboard myself.

1.  Justin Bieber and one of the Kardashians have hoverboards,

2.  It could burn my house down, and

3.  It could knock me on my tailbone, according to the pre-Christmas Texas newscast below.
     This report offers guidance on hoverboard use, but still . . . .

Why take the chance?