Hoverboards may be legal in NYC soon due to new legislation

Not too long after law enforcement publicly declared hoverboards to be illegal in New York City, a trio of politicians want to change that status. New legislation has been submitted that, if it passes, will reclassify hoverboards as something other than a motor vehicle, stripping away their banned status and instead opening them up for proper regulation. One of the senators behind the legislation made the sensible statement "they're like skateboards."

Hoverboards, despite their name, do not float (though they do occasionally catch on fire) — rather, they feature two wheels positioned horizontally across a board, functioning as miniature Segways and like modern-day skateboards. They're banned in many locations, some of them due to fear of fires and others because of their classification as a motor vehicle.

Last month, the NYPD posted a tweet pointing hoverboard owners to an NYC Admin. Many have criticized the city and others like it of being behind the times — there's obviously a big different between a motorcycle or car and a hoverboard, and the laws are unnecessarily limiting, forcing people to choose from a smaller pool of transportation options.

In a recent statement, NYC Councilman Andy King said:

We want to make sure that they are safe while they're riding them. Technically we know that they are illegal but they're still being sold across America as well as in the state of New York. We want to make sure that if anyone is riding them, that they're not violating the law.

SOURCE: Observer News