Over the past couple of weeks several companies have issued out statements to ban hover boards on their property and the campus of Florida A&M University just added to the list.
FAMU has banned hoverboards as of Jan. 22, and are no longer allowed to be ridden around on campus.
Carlos Hill, FAMU officer of safety security department said that the ban on hoverboards happened to avoid the incident of one catching on fire on campus.
“There is a lot of incidents (that) have taken place where they [hoverboards] have caught on fire. So if you imagine having one of those in one of the dorms and a student rides it or leaves it in the dorm to go to class and it catches on fire, before someone could come in and see what’s going on with the fire it could engulf the entire building.”
He added that students who disobey the code will be written up.
“If students are caught riding on a hoverboard, we will write it up as an incident, and send it to judicial affairs and they will basically saint the punishment for violating the policy,” Hill said.
Hoverboards have been reported to have several mechanical problems, including catching on fire, causing injuries.
“I have not seen many, but safety is important and I don’t object to that. If you’re talking about coming into buildings and all of that, they can present a hazard and you just don’t want that to happen on any level when you’re dealing with students, faculty, staff or anyone. You want it to be safe,” Dr. Valencia Matthews, dean of College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities said.
Hoverboards have been the trending around the world and everyone’s favorite toy. Athletes, celebrities, parents and kids are all excited and interested in trying out hoverboards.
The newly two wheel electric scooter seems to be affordable for many starting at about $290.
For students, staff, and faculty members, safety issues is the reason FAMU has to decide to ban hoverboards.
Autumn Page, a first-year animal science student from Jacksonville said, “I agree and personally I’m happy because they are catching on fire causing people to lose their homes, and other things of value … on campus when people are riding them it causes traffic and slows others down making them have to go around them and it's just a big distraction.”