Riding a Hoverboard Into a Pot of Boiling Water and the Most Common Injuries Among Kids
Despite the well-publicized fear that hoverboards might spontaneously burst into flames, a new study indicates that the most common injuries kids sustained when using the toys in recent years were completely unrelated to the overheating batteries that sparked recalls.
Researchers analyzed data on the injuries from the self-balancing, electric scooters that led kids in the United States to seek emergency care in 2015 and 2016. According to the study, published in the journal Pediatrics this month, boys between 11 and 13 years old were the most often hurt, and their injuries were what you might expect if they had been riding skateboards instead of hoverboards.
There were only three burns reported during 2015 and 2016, the first two years that the hoverboards were on the market in the United States, and none of those was linked to a technological malfunction.
“Two patients sustained injuries from riding a hoverboard in the kitchen and colliding with a stove of boiling water,” according to the study. “The other patient developed a friction burn after his or her finger was run over by a hoverboard.”
Adolescents most frequently got hurt from falls, damaging their wrists, forearms and heads. About 40 percent of the injuries were fractures, but bruises and sprains were common as well.
The study compared the hoverboard injuries with those sustained from skateboarding and noted that skateboarders were largely hurt in the street, while hoverboarders were mostly hurt at home. Hoverboard injuries tallied almost 27,000, while skateboard injuries passed 120,000.
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“Many of these injuries may be avoided with proper protective gear,” lead study author Dr. Sean Bandzar told Reuters. “Parental supervision is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of injury, in addition to having children wear helmets and wrist pads.”
The data did not specify whether the tween boys, who were the majority of the hoverboard riders who went for emergency care, were wearing protective gear like helmets at the time of their accidents.