US laws can't keep pace with the latest fad - hoverboards

Mill Valley, California

THEY are this year's must-have holiday item, coveted by children and adults alike. Retailers are promoting them heavily online and on catalogue covers, and they are an increasingly common sight on city streets across America. But in many places - from New York state to individual schools, malls and stores - they are illegal.

Self-balancing motorised boards have many names: hoverboards, Swagways, self-balancing scooters and, among the Star Trek crowd, personal transporters. But whatever they are called, they now have parents, lawmakers and o…