If you are thinking of buying yourself or your kids a hoverboard as New Year gift, think twice. Do not get carried away by the “hoverboards for sale” advertisements. Be especially aware of the cheap hoverboards as they can readily catch fire and pose a great health hazard to you and your kids. Even after “Gladiator” actor Russell Crowe waged war against the Virgin Australia Airlines on Tuesday for refusing his kids carry hoverboards as luggage, the laws have classified the products as dangerous.

Hoverboards have become the holiday season’s most sought after gifts. Even online retail giant Amazon has stopped selling hoverboards. Faulty battery chargers have led to numerous products (pricey or cheap) catching fire and no one’s safe, reports News.com.au.

Deerbrook Mall in Humble, Texas has also officially removed all hoverboards from its stores even though hoverboards are selling like hot cakes. According to Telegraph.co.uk, the mall had to be evacuated on Monday after a hoverboard caught fire at a kiosk. The fire filled the entire area in smoke. Luckily, no one was injured or hurt.

Hoverboards in Australia are also being closely inspected and are quite a bit shaky under Australian law, according to a March article by Huffington Post. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also issued a warning after reports came in of hoverboards catching fire during recharge. Consumers in Australia have been warned by the ACCC to purchase hoverboards having the Australian Regulatory Compliance Mark. The mark is a tick surrounded by a triangle.

Prior to the Deerbrook Mall incident on Dec. 16, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced an investigation into the hoverboard fire problem and the safety of hoverboards. In the UK, officials have already confiscated thousands of hoverboards due to safety issues, reports Fortune.

Hence, the hottest gift of the season is really an epic fail. The scary part is that there is no single reason why so many hoverboards are catching on fire and there is no foolproof way to avoid a potential fire. Even if you are looking at a list of top hoverboards, there is no guarantee, no particular brand to avoid. Thus, the recall on hoverboards is justified as many hoverboards are blowing up every now and then.

“I would suggest to anybody considering buying them to also get elbow, knee and wrist pads, all the protective equipment we used to haul out for rollerblading and skateboarding,” said Christina Johns, a specialist in Paediatric Emergency Medicine who is affiliated with Children’s National Health System and Holy Cross Hospital, reports The Washington Post.

Watch Consumer Alert: Hoverboard catches fire & causes major injuries

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