Quick, name the electronic device most likely to spontaneously combust inside your home or workplace! If you answered the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, you’re well on top of your current affairs. But you’re forgetting about another menace to the traditional American way of life: the hoverboard.
A family in Nashville, whose hoverboard burnt down a $1 million home earlier, is now suing Amazon for $30 million in damages. The six-person Fox family contends that since Amazon sold and shipped the hoverboard, and the original seller cannot be found, it should be liable for the damages.
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According to the lawsuit, the hoverboard was marked as being sold through Amazon by “W Deals.” That company is registered to an apartment in New York City, and has not responeded to attempts to contact it. Under Tennessee law, the seller of a product is held liable for damages if the original manufacturer cannot be found, which is why Amazon is now the target of the Fox’s lawsuit.
The $30 million comprises physical damages, as well as injuries and emotional distress. Steve Anderson, one of the lawyers representing the Foxes, told WTSP that “the most horrific thing was obviously the episode that day and trying to rescue these two teenagers, and the profound impact on them. It’s also important to consider that literally in a matter of few minutes every single personal possession of this entire family was destroyed. The only things that remained were their vehicles and handful of books and pictures they were able to find that had water damage they were able to dry out. In the blink of an eye it was all gone.”
Hoverboards were a big seller last Christmas, but the combination of cheap batteries inside a product that undergoes series physical knocks led to a number of battery-related fires at the time. Authorities have since worked to seize dangerous hoverboards before they’re sold to consumers, as well as banning them from airplanes.
