The-Ave.US

Yes and no.

I’m conflicted on this one. I think it depends on the circumstances. Yes, if they blow smoke in another driver’s face. No, if it’s just stupid show-offs with money to burn (these vehicle modifications are expensive) exercising free speech.

The First Amendment protects all speech, even obnoxious speech, so if these yahoos only wish to belch smoke to make a political statement — let ’em. This is America, where even jackasses have constitutional rights — and if they don’t, none of us do.

They can’t make enough smoke to hurt the planet. Clean air advocates should direct their energy at worrying about things that matter such as coal-burning power plants, emissions standards for hundreds of millions of cars, etc. A few dozen “coal rolling” morons won’t make any difference to the environment. And they aren’t doing anything that steam locomotives didn’t do every day a century ago.

On the other hand, a “coal roller” who intentionally spews black smoke in someone else’s face should go to jail for assault, or at the very least get a citation, and better yet, get his vehicle confiscated for having illegal equipment. (It seems to me if cops can confiscate people’s money under property forfeiture laws for having black skin, they also can confiscate people’s vehicles for belching black smoke.) There’s an old saying that “your freedom to swing your fist stops where my nose begins.” You don’t have a right to make someone else gag and cough. You don’t have a right to cause an accident, or risk causing an accident, by belching black smoke so the other driver can’t see. And some of these jerks apparenlty do target other drivers:

Last month, Vocativ noted many coal rollers focus their fumes on “nature nuffies,” or people who drive hybrids, and “rice burners,” or Japanese-made cars. “The feeling around here is that everyone who drives a small car is a liberal,” a roller named Ryan told Vocativ. “I rolled coal on a Prius once just because they were tailing me.”

http://climatecrocks.com/2014/07/07/if-you-love-this-planet-coal-rollers-hate-you/

Come to think of it, you don’t have a right to drive on public roads and highways, either. Driving is a privilege, not a constitutional right. Just ask all the people who get ticketed for “driving while black” or “driving while Hispanic.” If that can be against the law, then “coal rolling” can be made against the law, too. Legislatures could simply ban coal-rolling-equipped vehicles from the public byways. As a practical matter, though, you’d never get this passed in states with Republican legislatures.

In those places, it’s a lot easier to ban black skin than black smoke.