All Onewheel e-skateboards have been recalled worldwide after four people died while riding them and many others have been significantly injured. Future Motion, the company who owns Onewheel is now facing 31 lawsuits in the US.
Future Motion told the BBC that the recall applied to devices sold worldwide and not just in the US as American watchdog the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled all 300,000 devices sold in the country citing a risk of crashes causing serious injuries.
Four deaths were reported between 2019 and 2021 involving Onewheel and the CPSC’s recall notice added there had also been significant injuries such as “traumatic brain injury, concussion, paralysis, upper-body fractures, lower-body fractures and ligament damage”.
A UK store has stopped sales of Onewheel e-skateboards after they were recalled worldwide— (Getty Images)
At least three of the four deaths were incidents where the rider was not wearing a helmet according to the CPSC, and all deaths were a result of head trauma. Both Future Motion and the CPSC encourage people using their products to wear protective equipment such as helmets and knee pads.
The firm is also facing 31 lawsuits in the US according to a legal document filed by them last month by litigants who allege that “they fell because the Onewheel stopped or shut off unxpectedly”.
One UK store, The Snowboard Shop, stopped sales of Onewheel electric skateboards from their store and have updated their website with a redirection that allows prospective buyers to enquire about the product but gives them no option to buy it. The store is then responding to enquiries with information about the recall.
All models of Onewheel electric skateboards are affected and this includes the original Onewheel, as well as the Onewheel+, Onewheel+XR, Onewheel Pint, Onewheel Pint x and Onewheel GT models.
There are 31 lawsuits taking place against the company in the US where people “allege that they fell because the Onewheel stopped or shut off unexpectedly”.— (Getty Images)
Recall requests must be made through a link on Future Motion’s website.
In a statement on their site Future Motion said: “We are announcing a voluntary recall of all Onewheel electric skateboards, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The skateboards can stop balancing the rider if the boards’ limits are exceeded, posing a crash hazard that can result in serious injury or death.
“To address this, we have developed an innovative new safety alert feature called “haptic buzz” that will be available to Onewheel GT, Pint X, Pint, and XR riders through an important firmware update. Haptic buzz is an alert riders can hear and feel when experiencing certain situations that can result in a crash.”
