Author: kidsbestride.com

Hoverboards have grabbed the attention of millions of children as well as adults with their sleek looking modern technology. The internet has played a major role in boosting its popularity amongst all the crowds.

At first glance, this might seem like something out of ‘Back to the Future’ or like a technologically advanced take on a skateboard, however, there is much more to it, and it’s not all sweet.

You may have heard about the fuss of hoverboards catching on fire and kids getting injured by falling off them. So, the question arises, can all kids irrespective of age, use them? Below, we are gonna answer this question along with other related stuff.

Is There an Age Limit?

Normally, there’s no hard-and-fast rule regarding a hoverboard age limit, but we shouldn’t let kids below 8 years old use hoverboards. With that being said, we must also add that in early 2016, a new CA law has been passed, which set the requirement of a higher age limit, safety gear, and also a speed limit.

According to the law, you must be at least 16-years old if you are to ride a hoverboard in public. That makes this a legal hoverboard age. Another thing to be noted is that wearing a helmet is compulsory for all riders, and you will only be allowed to ride it on streets that have a speed limit of 35 MPH. That is not all, people who will be seen disobeying the law will have to pay a whopping $250, which might even be costlier than that shiny hoverboard, so be careful!

Are Hoverboards Still Catching Fire?

You need to know that the hoverboards that did catch on fire were not ‘UL’ certified, and these were the ones made using cheap materials in China.

These were sold at oddly low prices than the rest in the market, which made them appealing to the customers’ eyes. To their disappointment, these modernized skateboards were nothing but tragic.

We would suggest you to not buy one of these from a sketchy online retailer since they are more prone to explosions. Rather buy from trusted manufacturers. Although now, hoverboards need to be certified UL 2272 compliant, or else they will not be permitted to be brought into the US. This was passed by the Consumer Safety Product Commission in 2016 after a thorough investigation. So that’s a bit of a relief for you if you have already gotten one.

Other Concerns

Explosions and blasts are not the only concerns that come to play with hoverboards, other hazards are also present, and you need to heed them.

Adult Supervision

If you have gotten a top quality hoverboard from a certified official website and let your 8-year-old ride it, you still have to be careful. First of all, you have to ensure that your child wears a helmet, knee pads as well as the ones for elbows every time he/she goes out to play with it.

Secondly, do not let your kid away from your sight while on the board to prevent any sort of injuries and bruises. Last, of all, restrict your child from going about at the top speed of about 10 MPH since accidents are more likely to take place with less control. When using it at low speed, you can sustain yourself from the rough throws against the coarse aggregate paver.

Location

This is something often overlooked even though it has quite the significance in the safety department. Riding around a busy area with plenty of traffic would be a foolish decision to make.

Recently, a teenager passed away in a traffic accident while riding a hoverboard, so choose your spot wisely. A park or a quiet neighborhood is as close as it gets to a perfect address for swiveling your hoverboard around. We would also discourage you to ride it at steep locations, as they usually have a restriction of 30 degrees for moving up or down a slope.

Weight Limit

To ride a hoverboard, you must weigh at least about 45 pounds, and usually, they have a weight limit of around 300 pounds which should not be exceeded. It’s not like a person weighing below 45 pounds would not be able to get on it; the issue is that the pressure-sensitive pads of the board will not detect the person’s weight properly. Hence, keeping a proper balance might turn out to be a huge obstacle and would lift the risks of being injured.

Legal or Illegal?

After several accidents, some even fatal, many states and countries have concluded banning hoverboards in public places. It might be illegal for you to go about on your hoverboard in the park, so before you pour out your money, make sure that it is not banned in your country or state.

Major airlines such as United, Southwest, American, and many more have also put the cross sign on hoverboards due to numerous reports of accidents that surfaced to news channels and tabloids. So, you should also be aware of that; after all, you do not want your prized possession to be tossed into a dumpster while checking in.

Final Thoughts

Hoverboard injuries are mostly bruises and bumps, which you can easily minimize with the use of proper safety gear. Last and most importantly, before purchasing a board for yourself or a child, please make sure whether it is UL 2272 certified or not; after all, none of us want to blow ourselves up.

To conclude this article, we would like to say that if your child is below the age of 8, do not give him/her a hoverboard as it wouldn’t meet the hoverboard age. And if he/she has issues with balancing, then you shouldn’t even think about giving him/her one at an early age. After reading this article, we hope you take all of the factors mentioned above into consideration and come to a decision.

Finally here is a home video from Melinda for you to enjoy, which shows there’s no hoverboard age upper limit.

We have all seen and secretly wanted to get on a hoverboard and zoom past our friends. A few years ago, they entered our lives and changed the way we perceive recreation motors and vehicles for children, teenagers, and young adults.

Hoverboards more or less look similar to skateboards, but for skateboards, the process is more manual; for the hoverboard, it is more automatic. And as it is automatic, its speed has to be monitored and controlled. Otherwise, there is a question in people’s safety.

So, in this article, we’ll talk about how fast does a hoverboard go, and we will break down the information into two portions; one is for the favorable terrain and the other for unfavorable terrain. That way, you will have an easier time understanding both.

What Speed Does the Hoverboard Go in Favorable Terrains?

Before we talk about the speed at which a hoverboard goes on favorable terrain, we must discuss and know more about what favorable terrains are. Well, in simple words, this can be called a favorable ground.

For a hoverboard, a favorable ground or terrain would be an even land that has no bumps. The movement on an area such as this would be more controlled and smoother. That would enable the rider to have a much better and safer time on the hoverboard.

So, as the one riding has more control over the bearing of the vehicle on favorable grounds, more speed can be allowed for greater satisfaction and enjoyment. For a balance of both safety as well as fun, most hoverboards have a top speed of around 9 mph.

There are some that have much lower speed, but that is mainly done so that they can maximize the safety of the children. They have a top speed of about 3 mph. That might not seem like much, but for a 7 to 9-year-old, it might be the first step on the way.

Just as there are hoverboards that have a very top speed, there are some that have a very high limit. They can even go up to 12 or 13 mph, but have a very acute problem, and that is the inconsistency in their safety. And therefore, they are at the bottom of the list for parents while buying hoverboards for their kids.

What Speed Does the Hoverboard Go in Unfavorable Terrains?

Just as we described the favorable terrain to be smooth and bumps free, the scenario for the unfavorable terrain would be the opposite. Here the ground is more difficult to move around, and the rider will have to go through numerous bumps. The ground might even be wet or rocky.

Here, the problem is that this will automatically take some control away from the rider. So, for the most part, the speed will be lower on the grounds to ensure greater safety and security of the one riding the hoverboard and the people around it.

So, you can say that for an experienced rider, the top speed on the rocky or unfavorable ground would be around half of what it would be on a plain area, so from anywhere between 4 to 5 mph.

What Does the Speed Depend on?

We have already established that the speed relies heavily on the situation of the ground it will be on, but there are a few other factors that have a great impact on the end result.

Age

The age of the rider is something you must consider as it has an effect on the speed of your hoverboard. Herein, the more the rider is aged, the more experience they have of being on the board. And with experience, they have better control of the bearing as well as the speed.

Experience

However, age does not always indicate experience. There are many riders who are much younger but have much more skill than the older ones.

So, in the end, experience enables the riders to be more at ease with the speed, and that allows them to reach a higher speed than others who have less knowledge or time on the board.

Weight

Along with age and experience, there is another thing that will heavily impact the top speed of the hoverboard in both favorable and unfavorable grounds, and that is the weight of the rider.

A general rule of thumb is; the heavier the rider is, the slower the hoverboard is going to be. The weight of the one riding the board will weigh the vehicles down as a whole. And that is why it will be slower. The weight of the rider will also impact the battery life of the hoverboard.

Even though the ride might be slower, but overall, there will not be a drastic difference in the speed because of the rider being light or heavy. As long as you are below the weight limit of 175lb to 230lb, you should be fine.

Top Speed and Safety

There is nothing wrong with speeding in most cases, but there are times when higher speed might lead to various accidents. The same can be said for speeding on a hoverboard as they have an effect on the safety of the rider as well as the people around the board.

Using the hoverboard at top speed most of the time means that the battery will drain out faster. And at times that might pose to be a threat. The charge might run out, and you might topple over and seriously hurt yourself.

Another reason why speeding on your hoverboard might be hazardous to safety is because of the wheels and the working principle. For the most part, the boards are very well made, but there could be instances where the wheel might get damaged for the way they are being used. And that might lead to an accident.

While speeding, one of the wheels might come loose, and that will mean the rider to lose balance and control.

Final Thoughts

Hoverboards on top speed might sound and feel enjoyable, but it is very important to make sure we understand the type of ground we are riding on and the risks associated around us.

Let’s wrap this up with a video from Benni Swaggert.