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MTA's New Ad Campaign Declares "Hoverboards Not Allowed"
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 25, 2016
Modified Feb 25, 2016
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 25, 2016
Modified Feb 25, 2016
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(Photo by Kevin Weber)
The MTA has plastered subway cars and the insides of buses with their latest ad campaign aimed at hoverboards. It's legal to own a hoverboard in New York, but illegal to operate the personal transportation device in NYC. And now you won't be able to operate or even carry one on any of the city's trains or busses. This is a safety issue, since they've been literally blowing up all over the place.
“The safety of our customers and employees is always our top concern,” MTA Chief Safety Officer David Mayer said. “For obvious reasons, it is not safe to use hoverboards, skateboards or other personal wheeled vehicles on station platforms. We’re equally concerned about the safety risk of bringing devices that pose fire hazards into the confined spaces inside trains and buses.”
The campaign reads: "You cannot bring one into the subway, onto a bus nor into rail cars or stations. No carrying, no standing, no riding — no exceptions. Hoverboards may be the latest fad, but they are not safe because they have the potential to catch fire."
The prohibition will be enforced by the MTA Police Department (on Metro-North, LIRR, and SI Railway), and the NYPD on subways and buses. But so far they haven't been able to capture this elusive Bonnie & Clyde duo.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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