On Dec. 22 Residential Programs and Services in conjunction with the IU Office of Insurance issued a school-wide ban on hoverboards in any residential halls, on-campus apartments and residential dining locations. In the announcement on the RPS website, they cited recent reports of lithium-ion battery explosions among the chief safety concern.
The hoverboard will join prohibited items like toasters, candles and incense burners.
Pre-med student and frequent hoverboard user Mary Wilson, 18, said that she has reservations about the recent ban.
“I feel that the ban has good intentions,” Wilson said. “What most people fail to realize is that not every single hoverboard was made with a defect.”
Wilson said that she believes the university should have investigated more about the defect before banning hoverboards.
Freshman Kate Adams, 18, supports the ban, citing a hoverboard incident over break that left her bruised and embarrassed.
“Over Christmas break, my cousins brought over their hoverboard and I was riding on it,” she said. “When I was trying to get off, I didn’t get off correctly and I completely wiped out and tripped over the hoverboard.”
IU Spokesperson Mark Land said that the university’s decision was dictated by safety.
“Officials considered it as a safety matter. It was best to not let hoverboards in the dorms where they posed a risk,” Land said.
Land said students are still welcome to utilize hoverboards around campus, but the boards cannot be stored in RPS buildings.
Wilson said she still hopes her peers will empathize.
“I feel that the people who aren’t affected will see this as something to joke about, but students with hoverboards will miss out on both a fun gadget and useful transportation method,” Wilson said.
Wilson said there is a silver lining.
“It’s a very responsible thing that (RPS) reacted as soon as these outbreaks started happening,” she said.
Considering a fire in a residence hall is likely to affect more people than the ban will, Wilson said students should find some contentment in knowing that RPS and university officials at large are looking out for their safety.
