Unreasonable risk of fire’: Feds rule hoverboards unsafe

Self-balancing scooters that do not meet these voluntary safety standards pose an unreasonable risk of fire to consumers,”the CPSC wrote in a notice first reported by Mashable. “Consumers risk serious injury or death if their self- balancing scooters ignite and burn.”

The CPSC said products that do not meet the safety rules will be considered “defective” and could be confiscated, and violators of the new guidelines could be subject to civil and criminal penalties.

The federal regulator issued the hoverboard notice following a months-long investigation involving “reports, from consumers in 24 states, of 52 self-balancing scooter fires resulting in over $2 million in property damage, including the destruction of two homes and an automobile.”

“We  believe that many of the 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,” the federal watchdog wrote.

The notice does not constitute an official recall of products that do not meet safety standards set by UL – the independent firm that conducts safety testing for electronic devices and parts. But it will likely trigger product recalls by manufacturers and sellers.

“It’s my expectation that [retailers] will start the process to make any potential recall easier,” CPSC chairman Elliot F. Kaye told Mashable.

https://www.rt.com/usa/333032-hoverboard-safety-rules-government/

 

U.S. government declares hoverboards unsafe

No hoverboard currently on the market can be deemed safe.

That’s the startling conclusion the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reached after its months-long investigation into the safety hazards posed by hoverboards.

On Thursday, Mashable has learned, the CPSC sent out an official notice to retailers, manufacturers and importers with new hoverboard safety standards that, if not followed, could result in enforcement actions, including seizure of the devices as well as civil and criminal penalties.

More directly, the CPSC is calling on hoverboard makers and sellers to voluntarily take hoverboards off the market until they can be certified as safe by UL, the independent testing firm widely used by U.S. electronics manufacturers. UL has not yet certified any hoverboards as safe.

As we reported earlier this month, the UL only recently created a new certification protocol specifically addressing hoverboards (as opposed to the chargers that come with them) and any other self-balancing scooter. What that means is that any hoverboard brand currently displaying the UL mark on its packaging is doing so without authentic certification from the safety testing company.

Now, backed by the official notice from the CPSC, hoverboard makers and retailers are finally directly accountable and officially compelled by the federal government to comply with the safety standards issued by UL.

The CPSC “considers self-balancing scooters that do not meet the safety standards referenced above to be defective, and that they may present a substantial product hazard,” reads the

http://mashable.com/2016/02/19/hoverboards-unsafe/#92Z0P18kRaqP

 

UNREASONABLE RISK OF FIRE’: FEDS RULE HOVERBOARDS UNSAFE

Self-balancing scooters that do not meet these voluntary safety standards pose an unreasonable risk of fire to consumers,” the CPSC wrote in a notice first reported by Mashable. “Consumers risk serious injury or death if their self- balancing scooters ignite and burn.”

The CPSC said products that do not meet the safety rules will be considered “defective” and could be confiscated, and violators of the new guidelines could be subject to civil and criminal penalties.

The federal regulator issued the hoverboard notice following a months-long investigation involving “reports, from consumers in 24 states, of 52 self-balancing scooter fires resulting in over $2 million in property damage, including the destruction of two homes and an automobile.”

http://www.infowars.com/unreasonable-risk-of-fire-feds-rule-hoverboards-unsafe/