Parent furious after truck driver tries to pull illegal move next to vehicle: 'What must be going on in their mind?'

A parent left a truck driver in the dust (or technically coal) after their attempted sophomoric stunt went up in smoke. They shared the story to the r/Ioniq5 subreddit of how a truck driver attempted to "roll coal" on them.

Rolling coal is when a driver intentionally spews out a thick cloud of black smoke. For practitioners, it's an intimidating act that can target EV drivers, bikers, and pedestrians. Unfortunately for the truck driver in this case, the parent was ready.

"I was suspicious that he might so I was ready when the light turned green," the poster shared. "He started normal and then floored it with a huge cloud of black smoke."

While the truck driver's ploy was to get their smoke in the crosshairs, the driver's preparedness and the Ioniq 5's superior speed made the whole scheme go bust.

"My kids were laughing at the acceleration (they love 'go fast!'), and the black cloud was only in the rear view mirror," the OP revealed.

While they handled the situation with aplomb, they were still taken aback by it.

"Can't believe people really try to roll coal on EVs though," they wrote. "Amazing what must be going on in their mind."

Their confusion is understandable. Rolling coal is illegal because it uses devices to release large amounts of diesel fumes. Exposure to the pollutants poses health risks like cancer, respiratory irritation, headaches, and nausea. It also obscures visibility for those not capable of speeding by it like the Ioniq 5.

Drivers who've done it have paid the karmic price, like a driver who was immediately pulled over by a speed trap, and another who collided with a road barrier. In other cases, the recipients of it are endangered, like six cyclists who were crashed into during a 2021 incident. 

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in 2023 against eBay for selling devices that bypass emission controls, a violation of the federal Clean Air Act.

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Other EV drivers lashed out at the idea of rolling coal.

"Rare or not, I'm fairly certain this 'roll coal' phenomenon is evidence that there are little, insecure children inhabiting the bodies of grown adults in this country," one wrote.

"It would be cool to have a system where you could blow bubbles out of the back end of the car in retaliation," a user joked.

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