The driver of a Ford Super Duty diesel truck is facing a lot of flack after posting a video of himself accelerating past a cyclist on the road in order to envelop them in a cloud of soot and diesel exhaust.
The man who allegedly posted the video has since been named as Kevin Soucie with members of a Facebook group dedicated to cycling in North Texas calling for a boycott of the custom car shop called Turn 5 Fabrication that he reportedly works at and possibly even owns as well.
The video, shot from the driver’s seat, purportedly shows Soucie driving down the road and saying “Oh my God, a cyclist.” The driver of the truck then hits the accelerator and, from the mirror, a cloud of smoke can be seen surrounding the bicyclist.
The video was first posted to a Facebook group called McKinney Uncensored but has since been shared to many other sites and forums, even though the original post was either taken down or made private.
Read Also: 16-Year-Old Allegedly Rolling Coal In Ford Pickup Hits Multiple Cyclists In Texas
GIF source TikTok@alumiduty
Speaking to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Soucie did not deny that he was the driver in the video, instead calling the response to the incident “cancel culture” adding that he didn’t think that someone’s personal action should “affect the place of business where they work at.”
When asked if he owned the custom car shop, Soucie told the newspaper “yes and no”. Nevertheless, members of the North Texas Cycling Facebook group have called for a boycott of the business. That has also led them to post negative reviews pointing to Soucie’s alleged actions like “Owner posts videos of himself endangering cyclist on the road.”
The video came to the attention of the group thanks to Megan Tyler, who said that she is both an avid cyclist and an automotive enthusiast. She claims to know, based on the voice, that the person in the video was Soucie and that, although she did not expect people to post bad reviews, she says that the cycling community appears to be trying to right a wrong.
Tyler said that rolling coal has very real consequences and can obscure a cyclist’s vision, make it harder for them to breathe while they’re exerting themselves, and makes the cyclist much likelier to crash. And there are other risks involved in the practice beyond the unavoidable. In September 2021, a 16-year-old Texan in a pickup hit six cyclists after attempting to roll coal on them, leading some to require surgery for neck and back injuries.
Despite that, Soucie believes that he is the victim in all of this, saying he “draws the line” at his actions affecting his business.
“The only thing that I would say to that is don’t let someone’s personal actions affect the place of business where they work at,” Soucie told Star-Telegram adding that he didn’t want to share any further comments over the phone.
