There is a growing trend among young diesel truck owners to rebel against environmentalism and political correctness. It’s called “rolling coal” and it’s an immature, offensive and decidedly environmentally unfriendly practice of modifying diesel truck engines so that they spew heavy black diesel smoke, often times installing a switch so that they can turn it on and off. There is no shortage of videos on YouTube of (mostly white, mostly male, mostly young) men showing off modified engines by blasting Prius owners, pedestrians, police on the side of the road, etc. They aren’t just making an anti-environmentalism statement, they are endangering pedestrians, motorists and cyclists. Watch the short video below where one “rolling coal” asshole blasts smoke at cyclists on a shoulder of a steep mountain road:
In many cases, they are endangering people’s lives because the smoke is so thick that that the driver is unable to see. Provoking, intimidating and harassing people (like the motorcycle driver seen below) is part of the thrill. Although it is already illegal in Colorado, police have a difficult time enforcing it. More on why they can’t easily enforce it from the Colorado Independent:
Currently, for cops to crack down on coal rollers, officers must be trained to discern the opacity of the smoke, and also observe it happening for a full five seconds.
After requests and complaints from public safety experts, environmentalists, and police, Colorado legislatures were looking to change the law to make it easier to enforce. Unfortunately, three Colorado Republicans stopped the measure in it’s tracks:
Parker Republican Sen. Mark Scheffel said rolling coal sounded like flash-in-the pan behavior that didn’t rise to the level of overreaching legislation.
“It feels like we’re passing legislation bringing to bear the full power of this building and this body to pass a law targeted at youth that are engaged in a fad,” he said. “I can’t believe that there aren’t other ways that law enforcement can target this.”
Johnson of the sheriff’s office said it wasn’t just kids, but young adults who spend money on purposefully manipulating their vehicles to annoy people.
“Unless we’re dealing with some evil element of society, I mean, OK, if it’s not kids, it’s millennials with too much time and money on their hands that are choosing to spend their time harassing pedestrians,” Scheffel said. “It just seems odd that we need a specific law, that there aren’t other ways that law enforcement couldn’t deal with this. … It just seems odd that we’re targeting this so specifically.”
Scheffel voted no on the bill.
Mesa County Republican Sen. Ray Scott worried cops might ticket regular folks with diesel trucks pulling trailers up a hill for blowing out too much smoke as they shift gears.
So, for now, rolling coal enthusiasts can continue harassing, intimidating and provoking at will.