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MBTA to ban hoverboards

Now that they've got the dirtbike situation under control. The Globe reports the T is even planning a public-education campaign about the ban.

Wait, when did this become an issue?

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Comments

Hoverboard batteries can blow up unpredictably. It's not something you want in a confined rail car. NYC instituted the same ban last month.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/nyregion/mta-bans-hoverboards-on-trans...

Also, do you really want some idiot hoverboarding around on a platform, falling in front of a train or, worse, causing someone else to fall off the platform?

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The battery problem with a few knock-off brands is not a reason to ban all of them. Ten years ago Dell did a massive recall of laptop power adapters that could overheat and catch fire... should airlines have banned all laptops because of an engineering/manufacturing problem limited to a few models?

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The problems with Dell and Apple were limited to a very small percentage of the batteries and these companies recalled and replaced the faulty products.

The problems with the hover products are more common and the companies (many of them with no real US presence) are not attempting to recall the products.

That's the difference.

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You said what I was going to say. When the laptop manufacturers realized the issue, they announced it and corrected it. These "hoverboards" are apparently made without any quality control by someone who doesn't care and thinks (or does) have no accountability when the product gets over here.

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The fire issue is an excuse.

Wanna bet that when these companies get the battery QC issue under control, the T and most of the other institutions that've banned them, will still keep them banned (citing a new rationale)?

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I've got your rationale right here: The things are dangerous in crowded situations, like, say, on a subway platform. There may be appropriate places to zip around on one of those things; Charles/MGH at rush hour is not one of them.

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as many different 'brands' are coming from the same few factories in China. I support the ban until there's some semblance of quality control.

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Here's my bigger concern, as noted in my original comment: Do you really want some idiot hoverboarding around on a subway platform, falling in front of a train or, worse, causing someone else to fall off the platform?

Also, the Dell power adapters exploded when they were plugged in. I believe there was a similar problem with Sony laptop batteries. But these only happened _when plugged in_. You can't plug in when you're on an airplane (or in a subway car).

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... or non-motorized Razor-type scooters? All of these are equally likely to cause the problem you bring up here.

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But if you were on a T platform with a skateboard or roller blades and were not just carrying them in your hand, but were trying to use them, you would be told to stop. As you should be.

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Blades, skateboards, and razor scooters don't explode. When/if the hoverboard safety issues are cleared, you can start comparing them to recreational devices that don't have batteries.

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From the previous hot topic of how poorly the T is mismanaged.

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spontaneously catch fire on trains or in subway stations a diversion? Sounds more like common sense to me.

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The news being brought to light is the diversion.

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We all known Adam is on T payroll which is why he never reports negative MBTA news on this site.

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is to INFORM people. Unless you would like the MBTA to introduce restrictions without telling people about them.

But I guess everything is a deep government conspiracy to you. Which is actually a real pity.

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How are Americans expected to grow to their appropriate heft if they are forced to waste precious calories walking from place to place. You cant always drive everywhere, sometimes you need to take the subway and your destination may require more than the recommended 10 feet of walking.
Plus, now that bluetooth earpieces have fallen out of favor, how are douchbags supposed to alert the world of their presence? Camo clothing is a great signal, but makes it hard to see the person, of course.

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I can't see someone over 300 pounds balancing on one of those tiny hover boards.

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they have a range of sizes, from hipster to Trump supporter.

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There are several hoverboards capable of supporting our most patriotic American sized citizens:
http://bestelectrichoverboard.com/hoverboard-faq/whats-the-hoverboard-we...
(typed in "weight limit" and hover boards was the first guess from google!

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Smoking
Spitting
Fare Jumping
Fighting
Drug Dealing
Drinking
Weapons Ban
Public Urination
Employees on Cell Phones
Employees sleeping

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I would say the ban on smoking on the T mostly works quite well, with the rare exception of a scofflaw on an outdoor platform.

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Sullivan Sq is full of smokers every morning.

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People are still murdered even though there's a ban on that, I guess bans don't work, lets get rid of all the laws and rules.

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When something is already illegal piling on more laws doesn't help.

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When there is a ban, it's less ambiguous as to who is to blame if something ugly happens.

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( some people might enjoy Spam for Thanksgiving, but it's not Kosher at Universal Hub )

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for these innumerable rules and bans have to justify their job. And yes, it also gives the impression MBTA management cares and is on point, at least as far as hoverboards and ecigarettes are concerned. If only they'd apply themselves FT to fixing the systems 'signal problems' that cause trains to frequently stop and go, and move at a snail's pace, we might be getting somewhere.

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This ban has nothing to do with the fire issue and is just a typical example of frightened old people banning something that's new and unusual.

You read stories all the time about laptops catching fire and exploding due to the batteries. I have yet to see institutions piling on to ban laptops in public places out of fire safety concerns. Even that bastion of irrational, paranoid security - airplanes - does not ban people from bringing laptops aboard!

If you don't believe me, wanna bet that when the hover board companies finally get their battery QC under control, the T (nor the schools nor any of these other public entities) will not reverse this ban?

(And no I do not even own one of these so I have no personal stake in this.)

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It's the threat of somebody riding around on one and knocking somebody over. Same as with the ban on riding bicycles on platforms.

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I'm sure the T wouldn't care. If you rode it around a station, well, just don't/

Are we still talking about these things? I figured they were a flash in the pan. 20 pounds, two wheels and a top speed of 10 mph. Congratulations, you invented a poorly balanced, slow bicycle. Next?

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If you don't believe me, wanna bet that when the hover board companies finally get their battery QC under control, the T (nor the schools nor any of these other public entities) will not reverse this ban?

That's a bet I'd lose, since they won't "get their battery QC under control". They don't care. They've made the lion's share of the money they were going to get on the leading edge of the fad. People that still want them probably won't care about the risk. They've probably already stopped manufacturing them and aren't redesigning them at all. There's thousands of stock units and the onus is on the consumer to know if he's buying a "fixed" version of the product or not. "Well hey, that happened last year, and now it's 2016, so surely the bad ones are gone, so I can feel confident in buying this product, right?"

Nope.

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