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Hoverboards Will Be Banned From Metrolink Commuter Trains In The New Year
"Hoverboards" (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Beginning in the new year, Metrolink will ban hoverboards from all commuter trains.
Days after the new California law that says where you can and can't ride the electronically motorized skateboards goes into effect, Metrolink will prohibit passengers from bringing the boards onto all of their trains starting Jan. 4, reports City News Service. Citing safety concerns over the popular self-balancing, two-wheeled boards, Metrolink spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt says that they wanted to take proactive steps to ban the devices, even though there have been no reported injuries involving them on Metrolink trains or at its 55 stations.
“This is a proactive step we’ve taken to ensure the safety of our passengers,” Coffelt tells City News Service. “There have been concerns voiced about these devices catching fire and blowing up, and until there are more studies done, we’re not going to allow them on the trains.”
There have been reports of hoverboards—a far cry from what Marty McFly rode in Back to the Future II—bursting into flames in at least 10 states, including California. Safety concerns have also been raised over riding the boards in pedestrian areas, and they're illegal in New York City.
Metrolink says that if someone tries to get on a Metrolink train with one of the boards, they'll be asked to exit the train, but the boards won't be seized. “They may not be able to ride,” Coffelt says. “We’ll try to work with them and give them the option of returning to take another train.”
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