this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2023
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Fuck Cars

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271
DOJ sues eBay for selling ‘rolling coal’ devices; fines could hit $2 billion [article] (www.cnbc.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 103 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Coal rolling is the stupidest shit ever in terms of car modifications. You're spending money to modify a vehicle so it will make less power, pollute more, and have reduced longevity.

There is no upside unless you're a massive asshole who likes to smoke screen bystanders, at which point you should be charged for assault with a deadly weapon.

Not only should eBay work harder to stop these mods being sold on their platform, people that roll coal should have their licenses suspended. And yes, they ought to be charged if they ever pull a stunt next to other road users.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Most car modifications are stupid, at least the ones i hear about

Whenever a car or motorcycle passes by that makes a lot of sound, i'm always unsure of whether i should feel bad because the vehicle is obviously damaged, and the driver can't afford to get it fixed, so they have to live with the embarrassment of driving around in an obnoxiously loud vehicle

Or flip them off because they're an asshole that intentionally fucked up their exhaust because "haha car go vroom"

When a friend of mine said he was planning to do that yo his bike, the rest of us unanimously told him we would pour sugar in his gas tank if he did so

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

One of my parents was (probably still is idk) into motorbikes, and their justification for having an obscenely loud exhaust mod was that "loud pipes save lives".
They had a lot of justifications for a lot of shit though, so I don't know how valid that one is.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Only in an obscenely car-centric society does the vroom vroom have any potential for saving lives. But if you make everything quieter, with more mass transit, slower driving speeds, and more walkability, then most of the safety issues for the rider are handled.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Not totally wrong.

I've lived in Asia where there's only one rule on the road: might is right. Riding a motorcycle is dangerous to start with, but it's literally Russian roulette in that context: you have to take all the precautions you can. I have definitely noticed that cars give more space to loud bikes.

That being said, doing an arms race to keep yourself safe (bigger cars, louder bikes, brighter lights) is really just making everything more dangerous for everyone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

There's an almost-definitely fictional story of a foreign mechanic who fixed all of the imperfections and timing issues with his friend's Harley so it no longer rumbled and shook while running misunderstanding that that's part of the "charm" is the noise and rumble and rattle. The story goes that it was the most powerful harley ever because of it, but the friend still made him put it back to its "broken" state

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Eh, "car go wroom" is something that many drivers find rather enjoyable, me included, but just like with everything in life there are some people who go way overboard with it. It's just that with cars, overboard is also by far the simplest and cheapest way - you do straight pipes, which is exactly what it sounds like, just a direct pipe with absolutely no design or mufflers of any kind. They are ear shatteringly loud.
And for those, you do have the correct reaction.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I also like feeling the low rumble of a powerful car engine. You can’t help but feel the excitement, the power …

Those are rare now. Most mods make the engine scream or rattle of or buzz. If your car sounds like a moped with a missed shift, that is not positive. If your car sounds like a heat shield is rattling g, you should fix that. If your car backfires … crap, how does that even happen since fuel injection and electronic ignition?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

While this is true, diesels often come from the factory with a conservative one size fits all engine tune.

You can usually make the car more fuel efficient and/or add a bit more power if you do it properly. Potentially you can even make it more reliable. One of the things manufacturers caught up in dieselgate did, is recall cars and give the engine a less polluting engine tune.

Obviously, that's not what most people do. They tune it to have as much power as possible (or if they're idiots roal coal) and are then surprised when the transmission or engine gives out prematurely, and the manufacturer no longer feels the need to honour the warranty.

You know how people say that a new car loses depreciates up to 20% just driving it off the car lot? Stuff like engine tuning is one of the reasons that difference exists. You don't know if the previous owner did stupid shit to the car.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's more that the car transitions from "new" status to "used" status. But yes the probability of something getting abused on it goes up

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly Greta is an evil bitch, but she isn't wrong about Palestine or the environment . She does just suck as a person tho

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

who mentioned greta?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I think I replied to the wrong comment my bad!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

These are the guys that have fuck Greta stickers. I like my environment clean, fuck me right?

[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Having a truck that rolls coal should lose you your driver's license.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

And the truck. At the cost of the owner.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I still don't understand the naming scheme Pro life, rolling coal... it's all in an attempt to make it seem better than it is

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"rolling coal" doesn't sound that good does it? First thing i thought was like an ancient steam powered cart or something

Never mind that would be pretty cool

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I thought they meant one of those coal-powered cars from WW2.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Conflating two things together to draw confusion? JAQ-ing off in disguise are we?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are there really no emission regulations in the USA? Can anyone turn their car into a rolling has chamber, producing as much toxic exhaust as they want?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There are national emissions standards for manufacturers, and some states have additional, more restrictive measures. California basically sets the national standard by being more restrictive. If a manufacturer meets California's requirements they will be able to sell everywhere else in the US as well (this is a broad generalization with caveats but this is a Lemmy post not a thesis)

For vehicle owners vehicle registration requirements vary greatly from state to state. Some states include annual emissions checks with random testing as well. Failing these tests means your vehicle cannot be legally driven on the road. Other states only inspect when the vehicle is initially registered, and only check for the minimum items, such as working lights and a clean title (vehicle titles can be declared "salvage" if they are involved in an accident, and the vehicle goes through a more rigorous inspection to have the title cleared).

The US has been in regulatory capture for… probably longer than I've been alive. States like California are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to regulation. The national government is so beholden to corporate interests that the only reason there are still national regulatory agencies with enforcement authority at all is because the national government is too dysfunctional to change anything. This is life in a burgeoning oligarchy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Holy crap. Thank you for the update.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Just remember, the US is more like 50 countries wearing a trench coat than a single functioning country.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Completely against the "rolling coal" idiots, but how is eBay on the hook for what sellers put on their platform if they already remove 99% of it (as claimed) through automation and manual means?

They aren't the seller, but the marketplace. Its basically section 280. They've defended against these kinds of cases before.

Go after the sellers or manufacturers, or put in place a system with fewer loopholes. For instance, in my home state of Maine, emissions aren't even considered, and even a check engine light and gas cap check, the most basic verification, is only required in one county. Elsewhere, their eight-inch lifted truck with off road light bars, tires sticking out ten inches past the wheel arches and a single eight inch exhaust in the flatbed breeze right through the yearly "inspection."

Plus, the cops don't care, and likely do it themselves on their drunk way home to beat the wife.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So with that logic, The Silk Road shouldn't have been shut down because they weren't even manufacturing it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You're right about that. The market place is not at fault. The people who sold/purchased the goods should be the ones in trouble. I guess it's easier for them to go after a single entity rather than everyone who broke the law.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

In my opinion, if a marketplace allows something to be bought or sold on their platform, then they are inherently supporting and responsible for it.