Onewheel electric skateboards recalled after four deaths and dozens of serious injuries

Nearly a year after government regulators warned consumers that Future Motion’s Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards could kill or seriously hurt them, 300,000 of the skateboards have been recalled.

Four deaths and dozens of injuries have been connected to the product, which posed a risk because it could stop balancing a rider without warning and cause a crash, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Friday.

Future Motion of Santa Cruz, Cal., received dozens of reports of incidents involving the skateboards, including four deaths and injuries such as traumatic brain injury, paralysis, concussion, broken bones and damaged ligaments.

The electric skateboards were often used for transportation, not just recreation. Many of those who reported injuries were in their 30s, 40s and 50s. The recall involves all models of Future Motion Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards, including the original Onewheel the Onewheel+, Onewheel+ XR, Onewheel Pint, Onewheel Pint X and Onewheel GT.

The recalled products sold for $1,050 to $2,200, from January 2014 through last September 2023. Owners can contact Future Motion for a refund or repair, online at https://recall.onewheel.com, or through email https://onewheel.com or by phone at 800-283-7943 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT Monday through Friday. Some of the models may be able to be repaired through a software download that may be ready within several weeks.The boards should not be used until and unless they’re repaired, the CPSC said.

Nearly a year ago, on Nov. 16, 2022, the CPSC issued a “warning” about the “risk of death and serious injury” with Future Motion’s Onewheel skateboards without an actual recall, which doesn’t happen often. The skateboards “failed to balance the rider or suddenly stopped while in motion,” the CPSC said. People shouldn’t ride, buy, sell or donate the Onewheel, the CPSC said.

At least 51 complaints about Onewheel skateboards were filed with the CPSC in 2022. Forty-seven of them said they were ejected or fell after the  skateboard stopped or the self-balancing feature stopped. Most reported injuries including broken bones, concussions and cuts. In 42 of the cases, the riders ranged in age from 30 to 58. About two dozen additional incidents have been reported to the CPSC this year, including brain and head injuries and broken bones.

In one from September 2022, a 47-year-old said his arm was broken into four pieces and he required surgery. In one from October 2022, a 31-year-old, who said he was wearing a helmet, said he was taken by ambulance and suffered head trauma, broken bones in his face and is now blind in his left eye.

The skateboards currently sell for $1,050 to $2,200, depending on the model. Future Motion did announce a recall of only the GT model in August for a different issue: The skateboard not stopping.

Last year, the CPSC said Future Motion “refused to agree to an acceptable recall” for all of the skateboards involved. But the regulator said at the time it would pursue a recall.

Injuries reported directly to the CPSC go back to at least July 2019, when it received a report of an 18-year-old man who was traveling 20 to 30 mph on a Onewheel + skateboard when it stopped suddenly and he was thrown off face first. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and diagnosed with injuries including severe traumatic brain injury as a result of brain bleeding, seizure-like activity, memory impairment, deteriorating vision, severe balance problems and blunt chest trauma.

TO FILE A COMPLAINT
If you have a serious incident with a product,
you can alert the CPSC by filing a report
on saferproducts.gov

TRACKING DOWN RECALLED PRODUCTS
To check whether an item you’re considering
buying or already have has been recalled,
go to cpsc.gov/recalls