{"id":70636,"date":"2017-04-11T20:17:15","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T02:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-state-sen-don-corams-bill-would-level-fines-for-rolling-coal\/"},"modified":"2017-04-12T02:17:15","modified_gmt":"2017-04-12T02:17:15","slug":"colorado-state-sen-don-corams-bill-would-level-fines-for-rolling-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-state-sen-don-corams-bill-would-level-fines-for-rolling-coal\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado State Sen. Don Coram\u2019s bill would level fines for \u2018rolling coal\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"For
For the second time this session, state Sen. Don Coram is sponsoring a bill to stop people from \u201crolling coal,\u201d spewing out black smoke aimed at bicyclists, hybrids and protesters.<\/span>Courtesy YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

DENVER \u2013 One of the simply joys of life in Durango is the ability to hop on a bike and leave the car at home as you make your way through the day.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a defining facet of the city and a common sight, but some individuals take exception to sharing Durango\u2019s roadways with cyclists and express their opinion through a display called \u201crolling coal.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably seen it, a diesel truck rolls up to a stop light, revs its engine and spews out a plume of black smoke, usually in the face of cyclists, hybrid cars or protesters, as was the case during a anti-Trump protest along Main Avenue in November.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Don Coram, R-Montose, has seen it happen, and he\u2019s trying to stiffen the penalties for it.<\/p>\n

Enter Senate Bill 278, which would level a $100 fine on individuals who purposely expel exhaust \u201cin a manner that obstructs or obscures another person\u2019s view of the roadway,\u201d or creates \u201ca hazard to a driver, bicyclist or pedestrian,\u201d and a $35 fine for individuals who tamper with their emission control system to enable \u201crolling coal.\u201d<\/p>\n

SB 278 is the second bill on the issue sponsored by Coram this session and was passed Tuesday by the Senate Transportation Committee on a 3-2 vote that saw Sen. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction, side with Democrats on the committee.<\/p>\n

The earlier version was killed by the GOP over concerns it targeted commercial and agricultural vehicles that install chips to increase performance.<\/p>\n

Spencer Compton, managing director of Durango Wheel Club, said he is surprised there isn\u2019t a law in place allowing for the fines as it is an issue that Colorado\u2019s cycling community has dealt with for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seems so obvious that it shouldn\u2019t be done in the first place, and I think most people would agree,\u201d Compton said.<\/p>\n

During the 2016 legislative session, attempts to level fines against individuals who roll coal were shot down on the belief that it was a fad that would pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always been that sense because it\u2019s so obviously stupid,\u201d Compton said.<\/p>\n

Durango City Council member Dean Brookie said the subject of leveling a fine has come up in City Council meetings but has been tabled for other efforts.<\/p>\n

While the city hasn\u2019t done anything to date, it supports stiffening the penalties and, in Brookie\u2019s case, think a $100 fine should be the starting place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it becomes bullying or a hate crime, I would say $100 is not an appropriate exaction,\u201d Brookie said.<\/p>\n

Compton said the fine under SB 278 was a step in the right direction, but he felt targeting of cyclists was more than a nuisance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a form of assault because you\u2019re physically affected by it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Having cleared committee, the bill heads to the Senate floor where, with Coram\u2019s sponsorship, it is likely to pass and head to the Democrat-held House, which passed a version of the bill earlier in the session.<\/p>\n

Lperkins@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

$100 fine for nuisance exhaust called a starting point<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[94,28,934],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-70636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-state-government","tag-headlines","tag-state-sen-don-coram"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70636"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=70636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}