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15,000 Hoverboards Seized As Unsafe In United Kingdom (nationaltradingstandards.uk)
puddingebola writes: National Trading Standards and trading standards services in Scotland have released figures that 15,000 of 17,000 hoverboards have been seized at ports of entry in the UK because of safety concerns. The boards were seized "due to a range of concerns, such as safety issues with the plug, cabling, charger, battery or the cut-off switch within the board, which often fails." Are we pushing hoverboard technology too far too quickly, or are there just a group of criminal sociopaths manufacturing unsafe devices at Christmastime and pumping them into the market? Mashable has a story summary with links to video of a man in Alabama with his hoverboard on fire. The government of New York City isn't so hot on hoverboards, either.
Hoverboards? What year is this?
These are those silly two-wheeled "segway with no handle" contraptions that are all the fad this year. Bought in by the container load from the Pearl River Delta for half nothing and sold in shops for £499 a pop.
Because they have lights and in the dark they appear to hover :)
http://chimpbox.us
The BBC article on this subject makes clear that these are cheap, unbranded Chinese and East Asian knock-offs with a documented history demonstrating that they (and specifically their chargers) are a fire risk. That BBC piece really should have been TFA.
There are some oddities around these "hoverboards", in the UK, though. Specifically, it's illegal to operate one on either a public road or a pavement, meaning that they are legal only for use on private land. Technically, I think, the same is true of Segways.
If somebody tried to import a shipment of fake Ford cars, which didn't meet safety standards and were prone to catching fire while parked, you can bet that they would be seized and destroyed.
It's legal to sell these "hoverboards" in the UK, provided they comply with the safety standards for electrical devices. It's not legal to operate one on a public road or pavement, but that wasn't the issue here.
they clearly DONT hover.
No, and plenty of "hoverboards" are legally imported into and sold in the UK without being impounded. Just as plenty of Segways are imported and sold, despite being subject to similar restrictions around use on public roads.
The problem here is that for a story which has had a fair bit of coverage in the press today, the article selected as TFA is a really bad one and gives very little detail of the case. The hoverboards which were seized were cheap knock-offs, sold for substantially less than the "branded" devices. They don't meet UK electrical safety rules, so they are seized and destroyed. The same would go for any other electrical device that didn't meet those rules.
Three fires in London over ten days in October:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/busi...
Hoverboard users running into me on the sidewalk will be balanced by watching them accidentally run into small bumps and fall flat on their stupid faces.
One person's asshole in marketing is another person's genius in marketing. Given that these things have caught the public's attention and are being perceived as being cool when they function properly, arguably this leans toward the latter.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
My hoverboard is full of eels.
It's legal to buy plenty of things which can be dangerous if used improperly, from cars to parachutes to kitchen knives.
What we do have, however, are laws on issues such as electrical safety standards. These exist to provide the public with a degree of reassurance that devices which are not being used in a manner which is inherently unsafe - which are, for instance, just charging their batteries from the mains, will not do things like catching fire and burning down their homes.
I regard that as a good thing. If you want to buy a hoverboard, then go out and buy one which has passed those basic electrical safety checks. Nobody's preventing you from doing that.
This is about giving people a basic level of confidence that every last electrical device they buy isn't going to put them at significant risk of their house burning down. I'm in favour of that.
"The MonoRover's power adapter is legitimately scary."
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There was actually a very timely Planet Money podcast on how the hoverboards were developed. Apparently the concept was created by a Chinese inventor who quickly lost control of the idea to the Shenzhen wild west where dozens of firms began creating variants of the hoverboard. Given the nature of how the product was introduced, through numerous companies with no clear originating firm, it's no surprise why you have so many quality control issues without a single manufacturer that has a "brand" on these hoverboards they're trying to maintain.
It's going to be Jarts again for Christmas.
Have gnu, will travel.
Yeah, except these are knockoff devices, with unsafe electrics.
Some idiot falling off his stupid not-a-Segway isn't what the concern here is. The concern is same idiot plugging it in to charge, and burning down his apartment complex because it's a cheap knockoff that was wired by an incompetent, and has batteries with known failed cells that rupture when bumped around too much... you know, kind of like when an idiot falls off his stupid not-a-Segway.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
UK is the only place I know of where appliances are sold without power cords.
Really? I live in the UK and regularly buy appliances of various kinds and they have always come with a power cord, so this is news to me. I can just about remember a time when it was standard for devices to come without a plug and you were expected to wire your own on (presumably a hang over from the change in plug types and the fact that older ones were still in common usage for a while), but it's been a requirement for them to come with plugs for probably 20+ years.
Lot of hot youtubers like them so fans of those hot youtubers will have seen them and like them.
There are already cool videos of a 7 year old doing skatepark stunts on one.
The fact you can do 7 to 8 mph on one and well made ones have a 15 mile range is pretty damn impressive.
A sub 3 hour charging time too.
I'm 6'5" and I'm 25 pounds over the weight limit (so probably greatly reduced range) or I'd own one yesterday.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Yes, it's Happy Fun Board! The toy sensation that's sweeping the nation! Only 14.95 at participating stores! Get one today!
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Board.
Caution: Happy Fun Board may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Happy Fun Board contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
Do not use Happy Fun Board on concrete.
Discontinue use of Happy Fun Board if any of the following occurs:
If Happy Fun Board begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Happy Fun Board may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, Happy Fun Board should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Board, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Happy Fun Board include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Happy Fun Board has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Board.
Happy Fun Board comes with a lifetime warranty.
Happy Fun Board! Accept no substitutes!
They're not seizing them from consumers, doofus. They're seizing them at the port of entry. The same way they would seize a shipment of defective propane tanks.
They're not saying you can't sell a hoverboard. They're saying you can't sell a hoverboard that will blow the fuck up.
You are welcome on my lawn.
If you read that with a thick Scottish accent, it's much more entertaining.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Aye man. Den we only drink DeWhiskey.
You are welcome on my lawn.