UPDATE from 2014 thread:
According to a NYT article, the practice appears to be on the rise in California and Colorado. New Jersey explicitly banned the practice last year.
In Vermont an individual in a white pickup truck coal rolled a set of bicyclists - twice. They complained to the cops, but the police didn’t pursue the matter. To the NYT, a representative of the Morristown Police Dept stated, “We don’t have a law against whatever they did.” ( :dubious: )
I’ll add a cite from Findlaw, suggesting to me that battery law could be applied to a coal roller: (See also post 116, where I made the same point with a different citation.)
[INDENT][INDENT] Battery: Act Requirement
The criminal act required for battery boils down to an offensive or harmful contact. This can range anywhere from the obvious battery where a physical attack such as a punch or kick is involved, to even minimal contact in some cases. Generally, a victim doesn’t need to be injured or harmed for a battery to have occurred, so long as an offensive contact is involved. In a classic example, spitting on an individual doesn’t physically injure them, but it nonetheless can constitute offensive contact sufficient for a battery. Whether a particular contact is considered offensive is usually evaluated from the perspective of the “ordinary person.” [/INDENT][/INDENT] Italics added. Assault and Battery Overview - FindLaw