Hoverboards have been in the news for months due to consumer reports of injuries and reports of property damage. The CPSC has publicly warned of the dangers of hoverboard use, and on February 18, 2016, the Acting Director of the CPSC’s Office of Compliance and Field Operations issued a letter to all manufacturers, importers and retailers of self-balancing scooters (a/k/a hoverboards), advising of the new voluntary standards. The Howell letter noted that all hoverboards must now comply with available voluntary safety standards found in UL 2272-Outline for Investigation of Electrical Systems for Self-Balancing Scooters. Those hoverboards with lithium batteries must also comply with the test requirements under the UN/DOT 38.3 Transport of Dangerous Goods for Lithium Metal and Lithium Ion Batteries. Acting Director Howell noted that hoverboards not meeting these standards pose an unreasonable risk of fire to consumers and would be considered defective. All within the supply chain were warned to review their inventory and insure that any hoverboards on their shelves are in compliance with these voluntary standards or face seizure and recall. A copy of the letter is found here. It will be interesting to see how aggressively the CPSC enforces the new voluntary standards.
