New Jersey drivers, beware: The act of "rolling coal" is now illegal in the Garden State, which means if you purposefully spew black smoke from a diesel vehicle you're going to get a ticket.
NJ Gov. Chris Christie recently signed State Senate bill 2418 making the practice of removing or changing vehicle EPA Emissions equipment illegal in the state to help lower air pollution and to protect other drivers, according to NJ.com.
So who do coal rolling enthusiasts have to blame for this new legislation? Themselves. State Assemblyman Tim Eustance decided to create the new law after getting coal rolled while driving in his Nissan Leaf.
"Coal rolling increases air pollution in New Jersey and creates unsafe driving conditions on New Jersey's already congested roadways," said Tim Eustace, according to NJ.com.
The article makes a great point that the new law is sort of "redundant," since the State Department of Environmental Regulations already outlaws vehicles from emitting "visible smoke, whether from crankcase emissions or from tailpipe exhaust, for a period in excess of three consecutive seconds."
If anything, the legislation means police will be enforcing the law more often now, though the Department of Environmental Protection has yet to set official fines for rolling coal.
"It's to actually make sure we enforce the law. We have laws that lay fallow, I think, in some circumstances," Eustace said. "This doesn't come off as very important unless you've been coal-rolled."
If you think you lucked out by not living in New Jersey don't celebrate yet. Similar legislations are expected to be drawn up in other places like Illinois, where fines could top $5,000 for rolling coal, according to Gas2.org.
Alterations to diesel rides to allow for coal rolling can cost anywhere from $200 to $5,000, according to Science of Us.
Check out the video below to see an example of rolling coal if you haven't seen it first-hand yet.
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