New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has banned hoverboards in the city’s buses, train stations and on the subways. The ban is not just for riding a hoverboard but also for possessing one. The MTA is spreading the news using “Hoverboards Not Allowed” posters at the entrances of the Long Island Railroad and subway stations.
"Hoverboards may be the latest fad, but they are not safe because they have the potential to catch fire. Let's travel together, safely," reads the poster. "You cannot bring one into the subway, onto a bus nor into rail cars or stations. No carrying, no standing, no riding ― no exceptions."
Mashable reports that the hoverboard advisory, which was announced officially a few weeks ago, has been translated into five languages. These languages include Spanish, Korean and Chinese.
"For obvious reasons, it is not safe to use hoverboards, skateboards or other personal wheeled vehicles on station platforms," said MTA Chief Safety Officer David Mayer in a statement. "We’re equally concerned about the safety risk of bringing devices that pose fire hazards into the confined spaces inside trains and buses.”
Last week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent federal regulatory agency which assesses the safety of consumer products, announced that hoverboards are not safe, citing over $2 million in property damage from 52 self-balancing scooter fires in 24 states since Dec. 2015.
“Self-balancing scooters that do not meet these voluntary safety standards pose an unreasonable risk of fire to consumers,” wrote the CPSC’s Robert J. Howell to the makers of hoverboards. “Consumers risk serious injury or death if their self-balancing scooters ignite and burn.”
By implementing this ban — which is effective on buses, subways, Long Island Rail Road, the Metro-North Railroad, the Staten Island Railway and Access-A-Ride — New York City joins Amtrak, Los Angeles’ Metrolink, and Chicago's Metra in banning the self-balancing scooters.
