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This week it emerged that a 180-year-old law means it is in fact illegal to ride scooter-boards, swegways, or hoverboards as they're sometimes known, in public - both on the road and on pavements.
As we reported on Tuesday, under section 72 of the Highway Act 1835, motor vehicles on public roads must be registered and their drivers licensed and insured, but as you can't do that for the scooters, they're automatically banned. You could even be fined up to £500 if caught.
But one of the companies that makes the hoverboards has come up with an ingenious way to get round the law, sort of:
Speaking to i100.co.uk, AirWheel director Scott Fidgett explained that the "tongue-in-cheek" Hover Box is the company's way of "making a statement" against a law which they deem is unfair.
"Retailing" on the Airwheel website for £4.99, but deliberately made "out of stock", the Hover Box helpfully covers up the hoverboard meaning any unsuspecting officer who happens to walk past you will never know what you're up to.
We've done it to retaliate in a bit of a ridiculous way to what is a ridiculous law. The law shouldn't apply to our units. It was created over a hundred years ago. It even mentioned a horse and cart.
- Scott Fidgett
Here's the extremely hi-tech gadget in action, in a video titled "Nothing to see here officer":
Nothing to see here officer. SIGN THIS AND LETS GET THESE LEGAL https://www.change.org/p/george-eustice-mp-david-cameron-mp-rt-hon-patrick-mcloughlin-to-review-the-laws-of-using-electric-self-balancing-boards-and-unicycles-in-public-places?recruiter=84028980&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylinkwww.theairwheel.com
Posted by Scott Young on Tuesday, 13 October 2015
Fidgett explained that customer feedback to the stunt - the video of which has been viewed more than two million times - has been overwhelmingly positive.
Customers are backing it 100 per cent. I think everyone can see it's ridiculous.
The world's going mad. I mean, where will it all end? You'll get to the point where people won't even be able to walk down the street.
- Scott Fidgett
Here's another video of the Hover Box in action (note: the policeman isn't real in either video):
AirBoard / Hover Board banAirBoard customer finds a sneaky way around the "law" We are in the process of finding out exactly how on earth these units fit under this "law"
Posted by Airwheel on Tuesday, 13 October 2015
The company has launched a petition in a bid to get the law overturned and Fidgett is hopeful politicians will at least hear them out.
It won't go unnoticed, it will have to be looked at.
- Scott Fidgett
More: Riding self-balancing scooters in public is actually illegal
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