Some people haven't yet embraced the electric car revolution, and a few are a little too happy to make that clear.
In worrying dashcam footage from a Tesla driver, a pickup truck driving in front of them takes some dangerous measures to try to make their thoughts known.
Posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by Tesla Girl (@somi_teslagirl), the pickup truck moves over into the Tesla's lane on the highway to emit a cloud of black smoke in its direction.
When the Tesla tries to move out of the way of the truck and the toxic plume, the truck driver once again changes lanes to get in front of the Tesla. After applying the brakes, the pickup once again sends out a puff of exhaust pollution.
Worst part is that the @Tesla driver was a young woman with a child in the car.
— Tesla Girl 🇨🇦 (@somi_teslagirl) July 7, 2021
She has been encouraged to report this to the police. pic.twitter.com/2oHvGKDkQ0
To make matters worse, Tesla Girl revealed that the person who submitted the footage was a young woman driving with her child.
"I hope she reports it. That's reckless and very dangerous," one X user commented.
"So dangerous. It's disappointing to see people go out of their way to harass others," said another.
What the pickup driver was engaging in is known as "rolling coal," which is the act of modifying a diesel engine to enable the driver to emit clouds of exhaust fumes manually. The footage was originally posted in 2021, but the recent increase in this polluting trend has put the spotlight on the practice as a whole.
Coal rolling has been adopted as a form of protest, with coal rollers known to have targeted electric car drivers, joggers, bicyclists, and Black Lives Matter protesters in the past, according to legal advice website FindLaw.com.
It's also noted that the practice is illegal, as it violates the Environment Protection Agency's Clean Air Act. A 2020 report from the organization revealed 550,000 diesel pickups had emission controls tampered with.
In the report, the EPA noted that air pollution from a pickup truck increases tens or hundreds of times when emissions controls are disabled. Teslas, meanwhile, produce zero tailpipe pollution.
Such fumes harm air quality in the local area, contributing to the risk of respiratory diseases, so imagine the damage a plume of smoke could cause if directed straight at you — not to mention the fact the Tesla driver's visibility would have been impacted.
It's a wholly irresponsible practice, and luckily the Tesla driver did not suffer an accident following the pickup driver's reckless actions on the road.
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