Can Hoverboards and Bicycles Peacefully Coexist in the Bike Lane?

Obstacles in bike lanes are nothing new. Parked cars, runners, skateboarders, oversized storm drains—sometimes navigating your city can feel like being stuck on the hardest level of the old-school Nintendo game "Paperboy."

Cyclists in California can look forward to facing yet another obstacle in their precious lane space: hoverboards. A new statewide law went into place January 1 banning the use of the misleadingly named gizmos (no, they don’t actually hover) on sidewalks and sequestering them into the bike lane.

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     RELATED: 6 Bike Lanes Gone Horribly Wrong

If you’ve seen the boards in action, you’re probably dubious about how well this will work for all parties involved. Hoverboards typically travel at about 5 to 10 mph, and are known for making sudden turns that immediately eject their human contents into the road—just a few of the reasons New York City has outright banned them on public streets, sidewalks, and bike lanes.

They’ve also been outlawed from more than a dozen college campuses due to their awkward tendency to spontaneously combust and catch fire, but that’s another issue entirely. The newCalifornia law does, however, prohibit street use of the self-balancing boards by those under the age of 16 (the primary hover demographic), so there’s a chance their introduction to the bike lane won’t have any lasting effect on cyclist safety.

     RELATED: The Right Way to Ride on a Bike Path

If you're intent upon hovering yourself, here are a few quick tips for doing so responsibly within the white painted line: Ride predictably to the extent you can; signal intentions; wear a helmet(legally required); and watch out for bikes. 

And cyclists, if you see a hoverboard in the bike lane, slow down and give it the wide berth you might give an unpredictable wild animal or a landmine strapped to a Roomba. You never know when it might accelerate into your path or go up in flames.