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Problems With a Battery-Powered Ride-On

Battery powered ride-on vehicles are fun and exciting for children to drive, but they also present many problems. Most worrisome is that when they are used improperly, or even simply by an inexperienced child, they can be dangerous. Also, their battery life and mechanical needs may be more trouble than consumers would expect.

Delayed Start
- One of the most common complaints about ride-on toy vehicles is a delay in movement after the child presses the control pedal or buttons. In some vehicles this delay may be barely noticeable, but in other vehicles it can take several seconds before the vehicle responds. Some ride-on vehicles have this problem right out of the box, while others develop a delay after many hours of use. This can be frustrating to children using the toys, but also can be dangerous if they think that the toy is not responding and then it suddenly moves forward when they are not paying attention.
Flipping Over
- Battery-powered ride-on vehicles are designed, as much as possible, to prevent flipping over. It is still possible, however, for a vehicle to turn over when it is being driven by a child. This is most likely to happen if the toy is driven on uneven terrain or is carrying too many passengers. There have been many reports of children trying to drive their ride-on toys off a sidewalk curb and subsequently flipping the vehicle over. If a ride-on toy does flip over on a child, she can be injured by the weight of the vehicle's battery and motor.
Forgetting to Stop
- Because children are inexperienced at driving, and are operating the ride-on toy without an adult in the vehicle, they sometimes panic when confronted with a dangerous situation and forget to use the brake. This can be guarded against by an adult who walks beside the vehicle while the child is using it. If the ride-on toy moves faster than the adult is able to run, however, the child still might get ahead of the adult and forget to stop.
Charge Times
- Battery-powered ride-on vehicles vary in the length of time they need to be charged and how quickly they run out of battery power. These factors may change as the toy is used over several months or years. To extend the battery life, the battery should not be run down all the way before recharging, and the battery should be recharged as soon as possible after use. Also, the battery will degrade more quickly if it is used infrequently.

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