.  

Watch this: How to buy a hoverboard that will not catch fire

Whether you call them hoverboards, self-balancing boards or explosions waiting to happen, these two-wheeled scooters are not going anywhere. This 2015 tech fad may have been cool, but it had a dangerous side. Last year the news was peppered with reports of hoverboards exploding and catching fire. Cities banned them from roads and sidewalks. Airlines would not let you bring them into plans. Retailers such as Amazon and Overstock stopped selling certain models and even told consumers to trash ones they've already received. Suffice it to say that a lot has changed over the past year. If you're shopping for a board this holiday season and beyond, here are the things you need to know before you buy. These hoverboards can not actually levitate, to the "Back to the Future Part II." Instead, they use wheels to roll across the ground. It sounds lame, but really, they're far more fun to ride than a skateboard.   Technically, they're called "self-balancing scooters." These scooters look and work like miniature Segways (minus the handlebars) moving forward when you lean forward and braking and reversing when you lean back. You face forward while riding and use subtle movements of your feet, legs and torso to move in any direction.   To get moving, all you do is step on. The two pressure-sensitive footpads let you control the speed and steer with your feet. Since the hoverboard starts moving the moment you step on, mounting and dismounting can be tricky at first. And since there's no handle to steady yourself, balancing can be tough - it's easy to fall off when you get used to the board.   Actually, it's kind of a workout. You use your core to keep yourself balanced and also feel the burn in your calves and feet since the muscles in those areas help you steer.   Hoverboards can be tough to get the hang of. But once you master riding one, it moves seamlessly with you, stopping on a dime and turning easily. Riding one almost feels like an extension of yourself, and   

Do hoverboards still catch fire?

  combination of faulty batteries and bad electronics. Hoverboards are powered by large lithium ion batteries that overheat and explode under rare circumstances - something similar is thought to have happened with Samsung Galaxy Note 7 this past fall.   In early 2016, the Consumer Product Safety Commission investigated the safety of all hoverboards across all brands, recommending that any new hoverboards manufactured be "UL 2272 compliant" to be eligible to be imported into the US (more on this later). Compliant hoverboards are less likely to end in flames.   Then there were counterfeits. CNET video producer Mariel Myers encountered this when he bought a board from a third-party seller on Amazon and ended up with a cheaply made fake. At the time, these knockoff boards seemed to be more prone to fires and explosions, but we do not know for sure. To get the real board, she ended up going straight to the Canadian manufacturer's website.