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Conspicuous Conservation, the ostentatious display of objects that mark a person as eco-friendly, has become popular over the recent decade, with example of wealthy people making a point of being seen driving a Prius, putting solar panes in silly places and even wearing shoes "suggesting" you worked on the BP oil spill cleanup.
On the opposite side of the coin we are starting to see some rather deplorable examples of Conspicuous Pollution, the most flagrant of which is called "Rollin Coal".
These kids, (they are almost always 20 something rural guys) will spend anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 modifying their pickups for the sole purpose of belching huge clouds of black exhaust; adding smoke stacks and smoke switches (which either trick the engine into thinking it needs more fuel, or dump diesel fuel directly into the exhaust manifold).
This is not just a handful of guys. Elizabeth Kulze posted an article with links to “an entire subculture” on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram. “It’s just fun,” one coal roller says. “Just driving and blowing smoke and having a good time.”
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 25 2014, @01:25AM
Have a reporting mechanism that Joe Average can use.
California has a limp version of this. [google.com]
A cop can impound a vehicle on the spot.
Once impounded, inspect the vehicles for illegal modifications.
Fine the living shit out of the owner for any violations.
Have a mechanic's bay within the impound lot where the owner can hire in a mobile mechanic to come and remove the modifications.
Require that the vehicle pass all regulations before it can be released.
The behavior problem goes away quickly when access to the violating vehicle is removed and the costs start mounting up.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by zafiro17 on Monday August 25 2014, @11:29AM
Not sure why this makes a tech news site, but hey, there's still some more work to do on the Soylent news queue. gewg above me has got it right - there's no reason for this to happen, and wouldn't happen in a place where the law is something to be feared. There's no reason respectful citizens should have to put up with this shit. If the vehicle is violating code, impound that shit and make it expensive to get back. You had the money to install this bullshit, you should have the money to uninstall it and pay a fine that goes to clean up.
Yet another reason why people in dictatorships behave differently. Dictators don't have to put up with bullshit. And they don't [dictatorshandbook.net].
Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis - Jack Handey