DWS- Driving while smoking

[gruene smoke]

Is it legal???- specifically in Texas??

Got into a discussion with a buddy this morning. On his way in he was following a Stickburner/trailer rig. Dampers were open, fire burning and my buddy had an aromatherapy session of smoking brisket for his drive in. (3 guesses what he'll be having for lunch now)

Another buddy chimed in that DWS (Driving while smoking) was illegal and the guy was asking for a ticket.

Is it legal to drive with your fires burning in your trailer rig?

[peeps]

Is it legal???- specifically in Texas??

Got into a discussion with a buddy this morning. On his way in he was following a Stickburner/trailer rig. Dampers were open, fire burning and my buddy had an aromatherapy session of smoking brisket for his drive in. (3 guesses what he'll be having for lunch now)

Another buddy chimed in that DWS (Driving while smoking) was illegal and the guy was asking for a ticket.

Is it legal to drive with your fires burning in your trailer rig?I would expect it's illegal...or at least ticket eligible if your firebox starts dumping coals. Can't imagine a load of hot coals falling out on the road is very safe. If not illegal, it should be required to have a locked (and not just with a rotating handle) firebox door.

[Smoked Nachos?]

I'm not a lawyer, police officer, or judge; But, I'd let him off with a warning just because this sounds so extremely cool.

[Mister Bob]

Internal combustion engine on the road? What's wrong with that? But seriously, as long as the trailer is legal, everything is locked down tight and nothing is spilling out on the highway, what could the ticket be for?

[ATLSean]

Internal combustion engine on the road? What's wrong with that? But seriously, as long as the trailer is legal, everything is locked down tight and nothing is spilling out on the highway, what could the ticket be for?

DWI- D.riving W.hile I.rresistibly delicious!

[scayne62]

I have driven down the road with my UDS in the bed of my truck just humming along. was not cooking anything but it had not shut down and I needed to move it right away. I imagine as ling as ash was not bloowing on my food I could have been cooking with the lid strapped down and the intake in a corner where it was not getting a lot of forced air.

[rcpilot44]

In California it can be a ticket if your hot tar trailer is smoking while driving. I had a friend that owned a roofing company and he received one from the highway patrol.

[Jason TQ]

While there probably isn't a law covering exactly "driving while smoking" I'm sure you would get a ticket if hot coals were coming out. That would fall into some form of littering/safety hazard.

I have actually seen this coming back from a competition where the towed stickburner was still going and some lit coals were coming out. Not like massive hunks of lit wood, but enough to make change lanes and stay away from it.

[deguerre]

Hmmmm...OK, so I'm driving with a lit fire and also carrying 120 LBs of gasoline in a 20 gallon tank, just waiting for the unknown to happen. Yep. Sound move.

[thirtydaZe]

sounds like the only way to get the thanksgiving turkey to grandma's house, hot and ready.

[pwa]

I've been pulled over on Base with smoker rolling out of my offset, all the MP asked was did you know your smokin? I said yep lol

[Big George's BBQ]

Personally I cant think this would be good. Hot embers can cause a serious problem on the road and countryside if the area is dry

[NickTheGreat]

I've though about this for tailgating before. You know, start the brisket the night before in the back of the truck, drive to the stadium, and profit! :-D

[bander7003]

If you live in a "drought" area, a ticket may be the least of your worries. Can't imagine that being worth it. If you have a catering company, there is such a thing as "bad press." We have people in Colorado face serious criminal charges for negligently starting a fire -- in addition to numerous civil lawsuits.

As for a ticket, I image there are a number of laws in any jurisdiction that would be broken. Careless driving, for one. That said, driving to work behind the smell of a cooking brisket... there are worse ways to start the day. :biggrin1:

[SOB]

Some friends of mine did a catering gig and had all there butts and briskets in foil and towed there offset right down the road full fire and full load of meat. Said it was blowing smoke like crazy. Would've been a great pic.

[LI Pig Congress]

ive been thinking about this as well.. think of the food possibilities for week day meals.. smoke at work!!!

[dwfisk]

For what it is worth, I've moved my trailer mounted RF offset in the middle of a cook big cook. Cooked the briskets and pulled pork overnight at home and put them into a cooler to hold, then moved to the party venue about 20 miles away to set up an cook ribs & chicken. Had a fine powder of ash on the cooking grates that had to be cleaned before adding the ribs & chicken. Glad I had the experience, if I had moved with food in the cooker I'm not sure it would have been edible (you can only pass of so much as bark). Even if its legal, it ain't smart, at least on my style of cooker.

[Georgiaboy98]

I have thought about this lots of times, I cook for work a lot and this would save me from having to get there so early. We eat at 1130 and it's hard to get butts done when the gate doesn't open till 0430.

[DickQ]

I use to do this all the time ! I catered a lot of open houses at A Harley Davidson dealership in my town. I would start smoking at my house the night before and tow up the road about 3 miles for the events.One time I stopped at a convenient store on the way(obviously didn't park anywhere near the gas pumps) and a volunteer fireman yelled at me and said "you can't tow that thing down the road like that". I just smiled and got in my truck and pulled away. I always thought it was pretty harmless, always let the fire die down a bit and shut the dampers down.

[southpaw_1979]

I used to return from catering jobs with a load of hot coal. I used to cook whole pigs in a large oil tank, the tank was a bit holy and when I would hit bumps returning in the dark you could see sparks flying out the back. I never had any issues and never heard of any ditch fires, though I knew it was a risk, my preference was to leave it on site overnight and return in the morning for the barbecue.

[unixadm]

Ironic this thread started today. I was sitting at a stop light when a truck towing a odd looking smoker rounded the corner in front of me with smoke coming out of it. I asked myself "I wonder if that's legal", then tonight I see this thread. I'll have to ask my CHP friend what they'd do. Ticket, sample, follow for miles to scare the driver or ignore. :)

[SmittyJonz]

I have no clue if it's legal but have seen it several times -- assuming being towed to a Catering Gig cuz I've seen them pull up smoking at things my Work had catered (like allday 3 day training the third day would be catered BBQ lunch)

[CarterK]

When I was a kid, my Dad and some of his friends tried to cook a pig while hauling it to the beach. Didn't take into account that the increased air flow would affect the temp. Got to the beach in about 3 hours and the pig was already burnt to sh*t.

[ssbbqguy]

Only two repiles so far have touched on some real problems with the personal side of things. The thermal dynamics of forcing air either through the flue (backwards) or forcing it to the intake, only bad things can happen. The soot on the grates is also distributed all over the inside of the cooker, not just the grates. The quick burn of fuel wouldn't do anything good for a low and slow approach and the most important- It's plain irresponsible and stupid to think because it didn't happen , it won't. I would suggest learning time mangement and think of others more. Steve.

[Fwismoker]

OK check this out!

DWD Driving w/ deliciousness