TAMPA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida man says his electric skateboard has a dangerous feature that catapulted him off.
Alexander Halikoytakis sued OneWheel manufacturer Future Motion on Feb. 2 in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. He claims the machine on Oct. 17 shut off and "nosedived," leaving him injured.
As Halikoytakis rode the OneWheel on the road in front of his house, the front of the board slammed into the pavement and threw him off, the suit says. He allegedly suffered a ruptured left triceps tendon that required surgery.
"One of OneWheel's key features (and its most dangerous and unpredictable feature) is that it will provide the rider with 'pushback' when approaching the device's limits during use," the suit says.
"Often, however, instead of or in addition to pushback, which is allegedly designed as a warning to riders to avoid a dangerous situation, the OneWheel will simply shut off and nosedive, resulting in the rider being catapulted off the device.
"The harder the device works to maintain operations, the less the OneWheel is able to assist the rider in balancing."
The plaintiff is represented by Dylan Hooper of Morgan & Morgan.