At least 19 killed this year in hoverboard, e-scooter fires, feds say
CBSN
Hoverboards and their ilk have overheated or caught fire hundreds of times this year, killing at least 19 people and sending more than 20 others to hospital emergency rooms in 39 states, federal officials said this week in urging manufacturers to follow voluntary safety standards.
From the start of January through November 28, 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission received at least 208 reports of electric scooters, e-bikes and other so-called micro-mobility products overheating or bursting into flames, the agency said in a news release.
The incidents resulted in at least 19 deaths, including five related to e-scooters, 11 with hoverboards and three connected to e-bikes, the agency said. CPSC also received reports of at least 22 injuries treated in hospital emergency departments during that period, 12 related to e-scooters and 10 involving e-bikes, it added.
President Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.
It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is suiting up for his annual voyage from the North Pole to households around the world. In keeping with decades of tradition, the North American Aerospace Command, or NORAD, will once again track Santa's journey to deliver gifts to children before Christmas 2024, using an official map that's updated consistently to show where he is right now.
An anti-money laundering law called the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, appears to have been given new life after an appeals court on Monday determined its rules can be enforced as the case proceeds. The law requires small business owners to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by Jan. 1, or potentially pay fines of up to $10,000.