wipekitty

I went out on my bike to the grocery store this evening. As the weather had cleared up (cool, with a moderate drizzle) I decided to add a little extra by cruising down by the river. I had proper lighting equipment for after dark - high powered front light, two rear blinkies - and was not in bike kit (wearing a dress, actually).

Right before the exit from the river drive out to regular streets, there were four large pickup trucks acting a bit squirrely. I tried to give them space while continuing to ride predictably. Two pulled out in front of me to leave - all good. Then, the one right in front of me decided to ROLL COAL. This wasn't an accident. I got it bad. I couldn't even see the truck in front of me, and I started coughing (the cough lasted a good two hours).

After that, the trucks made a sharp right turn onto a straight street, tires squealing. I ramped up to about 21MPH, getting close enough to get the license plate number of the coal roller. The other two trucks were still coming, so I pulled over and let them speed off while I wrote down the license plate number number and time of the incident.

Long story short, the police are on it. They're gonna have a little talk with the coal roller and ask him to cut it out. They're supposed to get back to me - if this individual throws any 'tude, then we'll look at getting him a nice little fine. As I told the police on the phone, I have no problem with folks having a bit of fun with their vehicles...out in the country! Hopefully the punks will get a good scare, and think twice next time before messing with a lil' lady on a bike.

carl7

I would consult a personal injury lawyer to see if they can make a claim for injury to your health etc. maybe a longshot, but in this enviro climate, who knows? consultations are free I understand.

jefnvk

Hopefully, just be prepared for the possibility it makes them more hostile towards you next time. Sometimes the law scares sense into folks, other times it just enrages them.

I probably would have called it in as a reckless driver right then, but good it got reported one way or another.

rumrunn6

good for you

MidSouthBiker

Why isn't this Assault & Battery?

genec

It is certainly gross pollution... perhaps the vehicle should be seized and evaluated for proper operation... at the owner's expense of course.

JoeyBike

Because the D.A. drives a diesel pickup truck?

KD5NRH

Also check to see if your state has a web form, hotline or email address for reporting gross polluters. Some states just send a nasty letter, some flag it for the next inspection, and a few will actually require a test within some time period if there are enough complaints. If caught with a "smoke switch" that lets them pass emissions then flip it to roll coal at will, there can be some pretty hefty fines.

jimmie65

Even in Texas, it's illegal to modify your vehicle to "roll coal". Of course, getting the police to seize and inspect the vehicle is entirely a different story.

phoebeisis

Hmmm
Since about 2004-2007 or so Turbo diesel pickup trucks have had SOOT filters(particle filters) to PREVENT Rolling Coal(geez never head that expression before)
The filters are periodically cleaned by the Fuel injection system pumping in excess fuel and air- to heat up and burn the filter screen clean

Only Illegally modified Turbo Diesel pickups are capable of SOOT PRODUCING that carcinogenic crap-it also causes other lung damage and will precipitate asthma attacks(many kids have asthma) and won't do chronic lung patients any good either.

The COPS or pollution cops should check their vehicles

Modern Turbo diesel pickups don't smell(that stench) sound(the awful "broken engine clatter") or look-the SOOT CLOUD like TD from just 20 years ago
The bigger exhaust pipe is the only give away that they are TDs-no stench no soot and barely any diesel clatter

WNCGoater

Yeah. Good luck with that.

mr_bill

Many adults have asthma, even adults who ride bicycles.

-mr. bill

2manybikes

It happened to me not long ago. Just wondering, what does one do to the truck to make it do that?. Somehow run it super rich?

jimmie65

Usually they put in a switch that forces too much diesel into the system.

ItsJustMe

In Michigan I think you could be driving a pickup truck with a burning pile of garbage in the bed and they'd allow it. There are so many vehicles that are clearly running exhaust systems that have been totally torn out, loud, horribly smelly, pollution controls removed, etc that I wonder whether Michigan even HAS any anti-pollution laws that apply after the new car showroom.

jefnvk

Laws, yes.

Enforcement? Absolutely not. Not about to lobby for it, either, I've heard enough horror stories from my Illinois friends about the annual process.

phoebeisis

Right you are-asthma is very common(adults and children)- and occasionally still fatal.
I was just emphasizing the mean aspect of intentionally producing stinking sooty crap that might send a baby or child to the ER

I'm old and remember well the horrible stench of that sooty crap old time 18 wheelers produced
And buses-exchanging already paid for trolleys-run on electricity that was produced centrally-with stacks that could be "reasonably clean/cleaned"
for Filthy stinking soot producing city buses-
What a screw up-
and trolleys could be reasonably quiet- and you could open the windows
No one would open a city bus window-without favorable winds

ItsJustMe

Oh heck I'd be happy to lobby for inspections, at least maybe every 2 years? It just needs to be a staged roll in. Like, if they enact it this year, it only applies to vehicles sold new this year and after.

There are a lot of people who have old junkboxes that haven't been maintained since they day they were sold secondhand (if not when new), and they could never afford to bring them up to pass inspection. If they had to pass inspection regularly, it wouldn't be so onerous. I'm betting that in Michigan, at least 1/10 of the cars on the road would need repairs costing more than the value of the car to get them to pass an inspection.

jefnvk

I don't disagree completely. I'm more worried about the false negatives, the gremlins of a bug that doesn't affect driveability or pollutants or safety in anyway, but still lights up that CHECK ENGINE light and fails the car. Had that with an old Blazer, that went in a couple times to sort out. Finally figured it was a gas cap that wasn't sealing on the filler neck properly, that I could fix for many hundreds of dollars in costs for labor and a new tank, or I could just drive with no ill effects whatsoever. I chose the later, just resetting the light every few weeks when it popped on. I would be fine with pulling cars over and issuing fix-it tickets for visible emittants as a compromise.

Now, as one who works for an auto supplier who has an issue making this happen, the one I do wish they would roll in is mandated recall fixing. Shouldn't be able to register or transfer a car until all open recalls are fixed, as they cost the owner nothing and generally are serious defects.

Bald Paul

All of today's vehicles (gasoline or diesel, car or truck) are controlled by computers. Unfortunately, the aftermarket has found ways to reprogram the computers to produce more power (and greater pollution) for (ahem) "Off Road Use Only".
Right.
Even Volkswagen got caught using a trick of software on their diesel cars to get them to pass US emissions.

KD5NRH

This; had the throttle position sensor turning the one in my Saturn on fairly often. $80 part, or possibly $60 wiring harness that would pretty much require pulling the engine to get the replacement harness in place. Still got 38MPG, and no trouble getting up to 75 on the interstate, so no way I was going to spend the money just to get the light to stay off when I had a $13 reader to reset it with.

Digital_Cowboy

If they haven't been maintained since they were sold either second hand or new, then they probably shouldn't be on the road anymore. And isn't or shouldn't that be the purpose of an annual inspection? To get the cars that are unsafe off of the road?

jefnvk

Yes, at least until it becomes a revenue stream for a garage to fail cars on minor issues that really have no effect on safety or emissions that require fixing before they will pass it.

WNCGoater

A few years back, NC enacted yearly emissions inspections. They exempted cars beyond a certain age, commercial vehicles, and diesels. And so, the question begs, why have the inspections? The newer gas cars aren't the ones spewing into the air. It's the older, poorly tuned, missing pollution control devices, and diesels.

I believe it was done away with the last couple years.

dedhed

Older (pre '96) cars don't have an OBDII test port to plug into so emission testing requires expensive testing equipment rather than just "plugging in". The other reason is there are fewer of those vehicles in everyday use.