One of the most popular — and controversial — gifts on wish lists this Christmas were hoverboards. And while many people were delighted to unwrap their brand new self-balancing, two-wheeled scooter, riding their hoverboard turned out to be something else entirely.
RELATED: Caught on camera: Hoverboard fire shuts down mall
It turns out that maneuvering a hoverboard is not as easy as it looks, and people are wiping out on them. To make matters worse, fiendish friends and family members are uploading videos of these wipeouts to social media.
Here's a look at some of the posts gaining traction.
Some folks are truly savoring the moment, by capturing the fall in slow motion.
There are plenty more where these came from — and undoubtedly more will pop up in the near future. There's now even a Twitter account, @HoverboardFail_ devoted to this new type of terrible spill.
Of course, it's not a laughing matter for many. People are actually winding up in the ER because of injuries sustained from falling off of their shiny new boards.
Hoverboards had their fair share of safety critics well before Christmas. Earlier this month, Amazon and other sites pulled multiple types of the product from their stores after reports of hoverboards bursting into flames surfaced.
RELATED: Amazon, others pull hoverboards amid fire reports
Major airlines including Delta, British Airwas, and Delta have banned bring hoverboards on board, and just a few weeks ago a hoverboard caught fire in a mall.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission is investigating hoverboards and has issued the following safety tips:
- Do not charge hoverboards overnight because of the lithium-ion batteries
- Wear a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads when using one.
- Report any incidents, whether it's a fire or fall, to saferproducts.gov.
If you are going to hop on a hoverboard anytime soon, take full precautions, and maybe don't let mom or dad try it just yet.
Unless your dad is Marty McFly, then by all means...
