By Bill Parry
Hoverboards are officially banned from subways, buses, railroads and even Access-A-Rides, according to the MTA. The popular personal transportation devices are even barred from subway stations because they have been known to burst into flames and blow up due to their lithium batteries.
“The safety of our customers and employees is always out top concern,” MTA Chief Safety Officer David Mayer said. “For obvious reasons, it is not safe to use hoverboards, skateboards or other personal wheeled vehicles on station platforms. We’re equally concerned about the safety risk of bringing devices that pose fire hazards into the confined spaces inside trains and buses.”
Less than week after he introduced a measure to legalize and regulate hoverboards in January, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) made changes to his legislation.
“Reports of hoverboards igniting into flames are precisely the reason why I amended my bill,” Peralta said. “As we are attempting to solve malfunctioning problems through penalties and are awaiting new safety standards from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, our bill is a step in the right direction. Once these issues are resolved, there will be no logical reason to stop people from carrying these devices.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
