Question: I’ve seen kids riding hoverboards and mine want them for Christmas. Where are they supposed to be ridden? Are they even allowed on public property?
Question: How does the city treat those new hoverboards? As skateboards, scooters, Segways or what?
Answer: There is no Honolulu County ordinance that specifically covers the battery-powered, self-balancing personal vehicles known as hoverboards, said Michael Formby, director of the city Department of Transportation Services.
DTS traffic engineers believe that hoverboards fall under Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-134.5, which governs use of “electric personal assistive mobility devices,” he said. Under that definition they would be allowed on sidewalks and bike paths, assuming they meet the law’s design and speed requirements and unless otherwise prohibited, Formby said.
“Unless otherwise prohibited” is an important note because certain Oahu bike paths and sidewalks are restricted beyond general provisions. For example, nothing but bicycles are allowed in the King Street Protected Bike Lane. Meanwhile, bicycles are forbidden on sidewalks in Waikiki and other busy business districts.
Moreover, some hoverboard models might be illegal in Hawaii, he said, because state law limits sales of personal assistive mobility devices to “those models operated by a key that can set the maximum forward speed at no more than eight miles per hour.”
Add that to the mounting safety concerns (more on that later) and it’s caveat emptor on hoverboards for Christmas.
The advent of hoverboards adds to the mix of people and things sharing Oahu’s roads, bike paths and sidewalks, and Formby wants to work closely with the state and others to ensure that policies are clear and consistent.
“With the new technologies and new bike infrastructure, the city is forming a working group that will include an invite to state and federal highway interests to address existing laws and ordinances and clarify what vehicles, motorized devices, Segways, mopeds, non-electric bicycles, electric bicycles, hoverboards, skateboards, etc., can legally be used and operated where in the City and County of Honolulu,” he said.
Kokua Line also contacted the state Department of Transportation regarding the use of hoverboards here but did not hear back.
Q: What’s an “electric personal assistive mobility device”?
A: HRS 291C-1 defines it as “a self-balancing, two-wheeled, non-tandem-wheeled device, designed to transport only one person, using an electric propulsion system that limits the maximum speed of the device to 12.5 miles per hour or less.”
HRS 291C-134.5 prescribes that people age 16 and older may operate such devices on sidewalks, as long as they go no faster than 8 mph, and on bicycle paths.
Despite the name, hoverboards don’t actually levitate. The name is a marketing gimmick playing off the enduring popularity of the old “Back to the Future” movies, in which the main character’s skateboard morphed into a hoverboard as he traveled through time.
The motorized scooters are more akin to mini-Segways, with smaller wheels and no handlebar; users balance them by shifting their body weight.
Safety concerns extend beyond traffic questions. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating reports of hoverboards exploding into flames elsewhere in the United States; several airlines have banned them as carry-ons or checked baggage, and a few online retailers have stopped selling them. The fire risk seems linked to the vehicles’ rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and chargers, the quality of which vary by maker.
While some manufacturers blame cheap knockoffs for tarring the industry, Wired magazine reported that “regardless of how much you’re paying, it’s almost impossible to tell what kind of fire hazard lurks (or doesn’t lurk) inside any scooter.”
Auwe
Auwe to the careless driver who sideswiped both doors on the driver’s side of my silver Hyundai Tucson on Dec. 8 while I was parked at Saint Francis School in a marked parking space. You left no note of information or apology. I hope an unkind gesture like this never happens to you! — Disappointed
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@ staradvertiser.com.
