WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) — The federal government launched an investigation into hoverboards Monday as reports mount of the top-selling toy catching fire and injuring people.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s investigation was prompted by the 29 reports it has received of personal injuries from the hoverboards that required emergency room treatment and 10 other reports of the hoverboards catching fire.
Amazon pulled the product from its digital shelves Monday and the three largest airlines in the U.S., Delta, United and American, have banned the two-wheeled, self-balancing motorized board from their flights due to concerns the board’s lithium ion batteries could ignite a fire on their planes.
CPSC spokeswoman Patty Davis said 13 of the emergency room visits were for fractures, six for sprains or strains, four for contusions or abrasions, two for lacerations, one for a head injury and three for ankle, wrist or shoulder injuries.
Fire will be the focus of the investigation, Davis said. The CPSC will try to determine if the batteries have caused the fires.
“We consider this a priority investigation,” Davis told CNN. “This is a popular holiday item and it’s going to be in a lot of consumers’ homes. We’d like to quickly get to the bottom of why some hoverboards catch fire.”
Davis said the CPSC would wait to see if there would be better safety regulations put in place by the board makers first before they would step in and add any.
