Why Syracuse University temporarily banned the on-campus use and storage of hoverboards

Syracuse University’s decision to temporarily ban the use and storage of hoverboards on campus was made jointly by the Department of Public Safety, DPS’s Fire and Life Safety staff and the Office of Residence Life staff.

Chief Law Enforcement Officer Tony Callisto said those three groups began discussions regarding hoverboards at the start of this semester. The discussions were in response to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)’s December statement that it was investigating incidents across the country of hoverboards catching on fire.

But Callisto added that there is a possibility DPS could lift the ban in the future for hoverboards that are certified through recently announced safety standards, and some officials in the hoverboard industry believe many hoverboards currently on the market are already up to those standards.

There haven’t been any reported incidents of a hoverboard catching on fire at SU, but Callisto said the temporary ban was a proactive decision designed to ensure it stays that way.

“The biggest concern is that when someone’s done riding (a hoverboard), they’re going to put it in a residence hall room and it’s going to catch on fire and put the whole residence hall at risk,” Callisto said.

Student Association Vice President Jane Hong, who is also a resident adviser in the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center, said she has often seen residents on her floor with hoverboards.

There was also worry about the possibility of a hoverboard catching on fire in a classroom, Callisto said.

SU is not the first university to impose some type of ban on hoverboards. More than 30 colleges and universities across the country have done so — including SU peer institutions American University, Boston College, George Washington University, Tulane University and Vanderbilt University.

Callisto said before SU issued its own ban on hoverboards, DPS officials had conversations with many schools that are considering imposing a ban or have already imposed a ban on hoverboards.

The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA), which accredits DPS, does not have an official position regarding whether hoverboard use or storage should be permitted, said John Leonard, director of the Accreditation and Loaned Executive Management Assistance Program Services at IACLEA.

IACLEA leaves those types of decisions up to individual institutions such as SU, Leonard said, but he added that he is “aware of the danger (hoverboards) pose.”

SA does not yet have an official position regarding the ban, but SA President Aysha Seedat said the fact that hoverboards have been prone to catching on fire is “scary.”

In a letter sent on Feb. 18 to the hoverboard industry, Robert Howell, the acting director of the Office of Compliance and Field Operations for the CPSC, cited 52 reported incidents of hoverboards catching on fire in 24 states from Dec. 1 through Feb. 17.

The leading cause of those fires has likely been the manufacturing of the lithium-ion batteries that power the hoverboards, Jay Whitacre, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told Wired.com.

“The reality is that the quality and consistency of these batteries is typically not as good as what is found in top tier producers such as LG or Samsung,” Whitacre told Wired.com. “These are known as ‘low cost li-ion batteries’ by most in the industry — they are not knockoffs or copies, but are instead just mass-manufactured cells.”

Whitacre declined to be interviewed for this story.

Allen Chiu | Staff Photographer

Howell said in his Feb. 18 letter to the hoverboard industry that all lithium-ion batteries must comply with the United Nations’ recommendations for the testing of such batteries.

Howell also urged “manufacturers, importers and retailers” of hoverboards to comply with safety standards created on Jan. 29 by UL, a science safety company.

Tony Le, the CEO of Glitek, a company that sells hoverboards, said he believes that Glitek’s  hoverboards already meet the standards set by UL.

Glitek hasn’t yet been officially certified by UL, but that’s only because the company hasn’t had adequate time to gain certification since the standards came out recently, Le said.

“It’s actually quite a lengthy process,” Le said. “It’s more than just our boards meeting certain certification. Our supplier and manufacturer, they have to meet certain standards as well.”

If and when hoverboards from companies such as Glitek become UL-approved, Callisto, the SU law enforcement official, said he could see a scenario in which those hoverboards are permitted at SU.
“Certainly we could revisit this … and the policy could be amended,” he said.