A new viral video showing a driver pumping their pickup truck's exhaust fumes into a fast-food restaurant sparked outraged on the internet.
The incident occurred at a Whataburger chain location in Texas.
The video shows someone opening the door to the restaurant, which was full of teens at the time, to let a thick cloud of black smoke drift inside and quickly fill the space.
Watch the video below.
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As the smoke enveloped the Whataburger, customers could be seen running away from the door, some of them laughing and seeming to cheer. The laughter likely stems from the practice's long history in parts of the United States as a sort of right-wing prank.
Called "rolling coal," it is popular among owners of diesel trucks who modify their vehicles to increase the amount of diesel fuel pumped into the truck's engine. This results in unburned diesel being pumped into the air and coloring the truck's exhaust a dark black.
If this sounds incredibly toxic—on several levels—you're right.
Aside from the dangers of diesel smoke, which OSHA says causes everything from nausea to lung cancer, "rolling coal" is done as a form of trolling and protest of environmental protection laws and a show of "American freedom."
The practice is illegal in several states because of its noise, health, and especially traffic-safety ramifications. Coal rollers frequently target other people while on the road, like those driving hybrid cars or on bicycles, enveloping them in clouds of smoke and reducing their visibility.
On TikTok, most people did not find the video funny.
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While Texas is not among the states that have outlawed rolling coal, a District Attorney in the state is currently pursuing prosecution of a teen who drove recklessly to blow clouds of smoke over a group of cyclists.
The Waller, Texas teen then hit them with his pickup truck, injuring six of the cyclists. Two were so badly injured they had to be airlifted to a hospital.
