Rolling Coal Called Offensive, Unsafe and Harmful in Bill Calling For Ban
The practice of rolling coal is under fire again, with a bill in Maryland passing through the House of Representatives recently.
House Bill 11 looks to put an end to the act of modifying a diesel-powered car to spew out a sooty exhaust.
The bill poses that it should be illegal to have “a diesel-powered motor vehicle emit certain clearly visible emissions onto another person or motor vehicle; providing for the application of this Act; and generally relating to a prohibition on the discharge of excess diesel-powered motor vehicle emissions.”
The bill would fall under Section 203(a)(3)(A) of Maryland’s Clean Air Act that forbids the practice of tampering with a vehicle’s emission controls and allows states to prohibit the practice.
In a statement given to to Autoweek Ezra Finkin, the director of policy of the Diesel Technology Forum, testified before the Maryland General Assembly House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of House Bill 11: “Diesel engines have long been a popular option in heavy-duty pickup trucks because of their superior fuel efficiency and towing performance,” he said. “While we recognize diesel enthusiasts’ love for diesel engines and the performance of their vehicles, the practice of tampering with engines and emissions controls for the purpose of generating excess emissions on demand — ‘known as rolling coal’ — is offensive, unsafe and harmful to the environment. Most of all, it is not representative of the manner in which diesel engines were designed to operate.”
However, the bill has some exemptions. Any vehicle that emits some visible particulates during acceleration without any modifications, is spared in addition to drivers of commercial vehicles with a gross weight of 10,000 pounds or more and construction vehicles.
Back in 2015, the State of New Jersey also banned the act of rolling coal, issuing a fine of $5,000 for a first offense. Illinois has passed a similar bill in 2015 as well.
[Source: Autoweek]
Sami has an unquenchable thirst for car knowledge and has been at AutoGuide for the past six years. He has a degree in journalism and media studies from the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and has won multiple journalism awards from the Automotive Journalist Association of Canada. Sami is also on the jury for the World Car Awards.
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I think it's about damn time they did something about it. I'm so sick of these diesel trucks driving around town and purposely spew black smoke as they laugh and think it's funny while sitting inside the truck. There's just no excuse to purposely make the truck run rich and hell with just one goal... to make the engine produce a cloud of black smoke ON PURPOSE. it's idiotic and pollutes our air with no real benefit to anyone. Ban the practice NOW.