Sharjah: Police are investigating the traffic death of a 15-year-old teenager who was riding a hoverboard when he was clipped by a passing car in the darkness of night.
After the initial impact, the car drove over the Emirati teenager on the road, police said on Monday.
The victim succumbed to his injuries.
A friend of the teenager who was riding on a separate hoverboard was seriously injured in the same collision and is in hospital listed in serious condition, police said.
The second victim is also an Emirati and 15-years old.
According to Major Rashid Yousuf Bin Sandal, director of Ambulance and Rescue Branch at Sharjah Police, the accident took place in Sharjah when the two juveniles were travelling on their hoverboards in a residential area on the night of February 6.
Police said accident details show that an Arab driver failed to notice the teens as he was busy talking on his mobile phone and it was dark.
“It was an ugly accident ... the youth crashed to their death,” he said.
Police did not say whether charges will be laid against the driver at this point in the investigation.
Maj Bin Sandal said that the department has recorded dozens of hoverboard accidents leading to serious injuries to adult users but no accidents related to children have been recorded so far in the emirate.
Meanwhile, airlines at Sharjah airport have banned hoverboards from being taken on their flights — either as carry-on items or in checked luggage — because of concerns about the lithium-ion batteries, which are potentially combustible and are deemed a fire hazard.
Sharjah Airport Authority is seizing temporarily any hoverboard found with passengers.
The boards will be returned when the passengers fly back into Sharjah.
Colonel Younis Al Hajiri, director-general of Police Department at Sharjah airport, said, “Our concern is the safety of passengers.”
Col Al Hajiri said that some knock-off hoverboards are made cheaply with inferior and less stable batteries which make them particularly vulnerable to overheating.
Several incidents had been recorded in which hoverboards caught fire or exploded, injuring their riders or damaging nearby property.
Col Al Hajiri said that some passengers were surprised when they took their hoverboards.
“We keep it in a safe section with their contact details. When they come back to the country, they can take their belongings back,” he said.
