PSA: Do Not Put E-Cigarettes in Your Checked Baggage
If you use e-cigarettes, you now need to put them in your carry-on luggage instead of in your check-in bag when you travel. After more than 26 fires and other incidents involving overheating of e-cigarette batteries in checked baggage, the US Department of Transportation has banned testing over the past two years.
In fact, the ordinance also prohibits any battery-powered portable electronic smoking device, including vaporizers, e-cigarettes, and e-cigars, from checked baggage, and also includes a ban on charging them or their batteries on an aircraft. The consumer explains:
“We know from recent incidents that e-cigarettes in check-in bags can catch fire during transit,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox said in a statement. “The fire hazard in flight is especially dangerous. Banning e-cigarettes in check-in bags is a prudent security measure. ”
Passengers who have e-cigarettes can take them on board the aircraft in carry-on baggage, but like traditional cigarettes, they cannot be used during flights.
According to DOT, the 26 incidents reported since 2009 often involve devices that have been accidentally left on or that have short-circuited the battery. ”
The new rule will take effect two weeks later (shortly before the start of the Thanksgiving tourist season) and will apply to both passengers and crew.
DOT Issues New Safety Regulations for Electronic Cigarettes | Department of Transportation via Consumerist