Sorry Back to the Future, we don’t have automatic serving restaurants, we can’t answer our calls using special glasses and we don’t have those fancy, curvey cars like the year 2015 was predicted to bring. But what we do have is “hoverboards.” Although they might not actually hover above the ground, they have become just as popular as you see them in Back to the Future.

However, this new way of transportation comes with some potential dangers. In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard, hoverboards are blowing up. Literally.

The science behind hoverboard fires is relatively easy to understand.

Just like your phone or computer, hoverboards use lithium ion batteries to operate. A lithium battery contains two liquid sides, a positively-charged side and a negatively-charged side. In the case of a hoverboard, the two sides are only separated by a piece of plastic. If that piece of plastic is punctured, the battery short-circuits, and the liquid electrolyte can heat up so quickly that it causes the battery to explode.

These mini-explosions have caused damage to themselves and countless others. Most commercial airlines have banned them completely. The danger is now also spreading into America’s neighborhoods. An incident in Nashville, Tennessee made national headlines when a hoverboard caught fire, causing a house to burn down, trapping two kids inside. The kids suffered from minor injuries but were permanently scarred by the loss of their new toy. What started out as a fun futuristic gadget is now a hazard.

The harm done by hoverboards isn’t only done when they catch fire. Learning to ride a hoverboard is no easy feat. Losing balance is very common. Doctors have dealt with an increase in hoverboard accidents, the majority of them resulting in broken bones and head or neck injuries.  

In Florida, a boy wasn’t lucky enough to break an arm. He lost his life because of one. While 13-year-old Lavardo Fisher was playing videogames, he had no idea that his older cousin would find a gun. But when he did, his cousin had the brilliant idea to ride his hoverboard while holding the gun and ended up losing balance, accidentally shooting and killing his younger cousin.

Due to incidents like Fisher’s, college campuses are now taking action against hoverboards. Many schools have banned them to keep campuses safe, including Big Ten schools such as Ohio State, Purdue University and Indiana University. So college-bound graduates hoping to take their precious toys to college better check their school’s policy on them, because odds are, they’re banned.

Also, if you are still planning on purchasing one, don’t bet on finding it on overstock.com. Overstock stopped selling hoverboards due to the potential risks the impose to consumers.

Colleges and overstock.com are right. Hoverboards are not worth all the harm they have caused. Save yourself from the potential medical bills, the cost of your house burning down and even from death.

So far, they caused damage in 24 states, totaling about a whopping $2 million. Would you want to add to that $2 million? I don’t think so.

Buying a hoverboard can expose their buyers to many threats, and frankly, they serve no true purpose besides recreation and looking “cool.” After all, hoverboards can’t get you anywhere your legs can’t take you.