Aficionados of the so-called hoverboard have a new obstacle in getting around Southern California – a new state law bans the self-balancing electronic devices aboard Metrolink trains.
The ban takes effect Monday, just days after a cellphone video of a burning hoverboard in Koreatown made headlines.
Metrolink executives say they've taken this step to ensure safety. The popular transportation device has come into the national spotlight, with hoverboards catching fire across the country and reports of hoverboard-related injuries.
"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," Metrolink spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt told City News Service last week.
According to Coffelt, there have been no reported injury accidents involving hoverboards and other self-levitating products on Metrolink trains or at its 55 stations.
Coffelt said that if passengers board trains with their boards, Metrolink personnel will ask them to step off.
Another new hoverboard-related law in California bans anyone under the age of 16 from riding the devices on public roadways. Assembly Bill 604, approved by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, requires users to wear a helmet and will limit hoverboards on roads with speed limits that are 35 mph or less.
