Amazon grounds hoverboards amidst battery fires and explosions
Amazon has removed hoverboards from sale just a fortnight before Christmas amidst reports of battery fires and explosions as well as concern for the safety of road and pavement users..
The self-balancing twin wheeled gadgets have been one of the must-have gifts of the season, shifting in their thousands, but the device has been dogged by safety concerns following a report by the Chartered trading Institute that 88 per cent of vehicles imported from outwith the EU failed basic safety checks.
It is believed that Amazon is now demanding documentary evidence that hoverboards put up for sale are compliant with electrical safety standards.
Celebrity endorsements from the likes of Justin Bieber and Lily Allen have helped fuel the craze, despite hoverboard’s being banned from roads and public footpaths.
However, just last week a 15 year old hoverboard user was killed after being hit by a bus whilst crossing a road in North London to purchase milk.