All Onewheel e-skateboards recalled worldwide after four deaths

All Onewheel electric skateboards sold worldwide will be recalled after four people died while riding them.

US watchdog the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled all 300,000 devices sold in the US, citing a risk of crashes causing serious injuries.

Future Motion, which makes Onewheels, said that the recall applies to all customers, not just those in the US.

A UK government spokesperson told the BBC it would make enquiries and “take action swiftly” if required.

Future Motion said that UK customers could visit its website to view their options, which range from a software update to a $100 (£82) store credit, depending on the make and model of their skateboard.

Recall requests must be submitted through a link on Future Motion’s website.

In the recall notice, the CPSC said there were four reported deaths involving Onewheels between 2019 and 2021, as well as significant injuries such as “traumatic brain injury, concussion, paralysis, upper-body fractures, lower-body fractures and ligament damage”.

The watchdog said the four deaths were a result of head trauma, and the reports showed that in at least three of those incidents the rider was not wearing a helmet.

Future Motion and the CPSC both encourage people to wear protective equipment while riding, such as helmets and knee pads.

According to a legal document filed by the firm in September, it is facing 31 lawsuits in the US from people who “allege that they fell because the Onewheel stopped or shut off unexpectedly”.

It said in the filings that no case relating to the electric skateboards had ever been tested in court.

The recall involves all models of Onewheel electric skateboards, which includes the original Onewheel, as well as the Onewheel+, Onewheel+ XR, Onewheel Pint, Onewheel Pint X and Onewheel GT models.

It is legal to buy electric-powered devices such as e-skateboards and e-scooters and ride them on private land, but it is currently illegal to use privately owned ones on roads, pavements and cycle lanes.

It comes after one UK store – The Snowboard Shop – pulled the electric skateboards from sale.

It said people who had purchased Onewheels would be notified while it looked into the issue, and it had approached the manufacturer for clarification.

It has chosen to keep the products on its website in order to provide a link to the product recall notice, but there is no “buy” button. Would-be customers can instead only “enquire” about them, and it is responding to enquiries with information about the recall.

Other distributors of Onewheel electric skateboards in the UK have also been approached for comment.

Last year, the CPSC urged people to stop using Onewheels. At the time, Future Motion objected and said they were safe “when operated following basic safe riding principles common to any board sport”.

It said there was no reason for people to stop using their devices.

In a section of its website dedicated to the recall, Future Motion said it had “an innovative new safety alert feature” which some Onewheel owners could install via a firmware update in the coming weeks to make their devices safer.

The feature, named haptic buzz, is an alert that electric skateboard riders can “hear and feel when experiencing certain situations that can result in a crash”, according to the firm’s website.

“Haptic buzz is designed to work in conjunction with the existing pushback safety feature to help riders further recognize that the board’s ability to balance may soon be exceeded so they can lean back and slow down to avoid crashing,” it reads.

However, it can only be used by customers with Onewheel GT, Pint X, Pint, and XR devices.

Those with original Onewheel and Onewheel+ electric skateboards, which have since been discontinued, are instead entitled to a $100 (£82) credit towards a new device – which retail between $1,050 and $2,200.