RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Commonwealth University is the latest school across the commonwealth to ban hoverboards on their college campus.
The school announced the decision to students in a letter Friday. The ban is effective immediately.
Hoverboards have been under scrutiny after some models have reportedly overheated, exploded or caught fire.
The letter cites the decision on The Consumer Product Safety Commission and their investigation into why the self-balancing electric boards have been connected to dozens of fires across the county.
Here is VCU’s full letter to the VCU community:
To the VCU and VCU Health communities,
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recently raised safety concerns about hoverboards, which can pose a potential fire risk. Batteries for the two-wheeled, self-balancing electric boards have been connected to dozens of fires across the country.
Effective immediately, Virginia Commonwealth University is prohibiting the operation, storage and charging of hoverboards and similar products inside all owned or leased property where VCU and VCU Health conduct business. This includes residence halls, classroom buildings, VCU Medical Center and related medical enterprises. The prohibition, proposed by University Risk Management and approved by President Michael Rao, will remain in place until safety issues associated with hoverboards have been resolved.
Please leave your hoverboards at home.
VCU and VCU Health are dedicated to the safety of students, employees, patients and visitors.
Sincerely,
Thomas Briggs
Assistant Vice President
Safety and Risk Management
In December, Delta, United and American Airlines announced they would no longer allow hoverboards on their flights because of safety concerns.
VCU joins George Mason University, Old Dominion University, James Madision University, Virginia Tech and Radford University, who have banned hoverboards over the last month.
