More than 30 universities announced over Winter Break a ban on the use of hoverboards on their campuses due to safety concerns.

The bans were in response to a Dec. 16 statement from United States Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye regarding the safety of the machines. At the root of the statement was concern about the number of people who said their hoverboards had unexpectedly caught fire.

“The challenge is to move quickly but also thoroughly and carefully to find out why certain hoverboards caught fire,” Kaye said in the statement. “Every consumer who is riding a hoverboard, who purchased one to give as a gift during the holidays, or who is thinking about buying one deserves to know if there is a safety defect.”

Kaye also said the CPSC was looking particularly closely at the battery packs and charger compatibility as potential causes of the boards catching fire.

The statement amplified already mounting concerns among university staff in charge of addressing student safety, according to USA Today.

Dan Nichols, the executive director of the risk, safety and transportation programs at American University, for example, issued a statement Jan. 4 temporarily banning hoverboards at the university, citing the “potential impact to the safety” of the campus community.

Other universities — such as Georgia State University, George Washington University, Fordham University, Emerson College and Butler University — have also issued temporary bans that do not permit students to have the hoverboards anywhere on campus until more research can be done to address safety concerns, according to USA Today.

Indiana University, meanwhile, implemented a partial ban on hoverboards, as the school only banned the boards from the dormitories, said Mark Land, associate vice president of public affairs and government relations at IU.

Land said IU issued the partial ban because administrators thought the dormitories were at the highest risk for issues with fire. But he added that if evidence showed the potential risk to be greater than originally thought, the university would consider implementing a full ban on hoverboards.

“It simply comes down to safety,” Land said. “We have a number of large dormitories on campus and with 12 to 13 thousand students living here, a fire in one of our large dormitories is just about one of our biggest fears from a safety perspective.”

Students at IU are still allowed to have the hoverboards, Land said, but they must find their own place to store and charge them, such as in their cars or at a friend’s off-campus house.

Land said he hasn’t experienced any complaints so far, but if any students or their families, who may have purchased the device over break, were feeling frustrated with the decision, he would tell them that IU cannot afford to risk the lives of its students for any reason.

While the CPSC continues research on the product, the statement from Kaye encourages those who have already purchased a hoverboard to observe the boards closely when charging, store the devices in an open dry area, wear safety gear when using the boards and to not charge the boards immediately after riding.

The statement also encourages consumers to check whether their device has the mark of a certified national testing laboratory and to report any incidents to the CPSC.

Published on January 20, 2016 at 10:32 pm

Contact BreeAnna: blposhek@syr.edu