Sunnyvale, California – Federal regulators have issued a recall for all models of Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards, citing at least four deaths and numerous injuries in recent years. The 300,000 skateboards manufactured by California-based Future Motion are said to have a flaw that can cause them to stop balancing a rider if their limits are exceeded, potentially leading to serious crashes, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The CPSC reported that Future Motion has received dozens of incident reports related to these skateboards, including the deaths of four individuals between 2019 and 2021, as well as serious injuries such as paralysis, traumatic brain injury, fractures, and ligament damage. The deaths were reportedly the result of head trauma, with at least three of the individuals not wearing helmets at the time of the incidents.
Those who own an impacted Onewheel skateboard are urged to stop using it immediately. The recall affects all Onewheel electric skateboards, including Onewheel, Onewheel+, Onewheel+ XR, Onewheel Pint, Onewheel Pint X, and Onewheel GT, sold online and through independent retailers from January 2014 through September of this year.
To address the crash hazard, Future Motion’s Onewheel team announced the introduction of a new safety alert feature called “haptic buzz” via a firmware update for certain Onewheel models in the coming weeks. Additionally, eligible riders will have the option to receive a prorated refund in the form of $100 in store credit after disposing of the product.
Furthermore, it was noted that original Onewheel and Onewheel+ boards are not eligible for the firmware update. The Onewheel team emphasized the importance of rider safety and urged all riders to wear helmets and other protective gear.
Following the CPSC’s previous warning in November, Future Motion had initially refused to agree to a product recall. However, the company has since worked with the CPSC to issue the recall update. The specifics of this collaboration and the company’s response to the recall were not immediately available upon request for comment.