I agree...a belt alone wouldn’t make enough smoke to annoy other drivers.
A serpentine belt is called that because it goes around so many things under the hood. It's like a snake. Power steering would stop. No water pump to cool down the engine, so the temp light would come on. The engine light would come on due to the alternator not getting charged.
If there's any spilled oil under the hood (dirty engine), it would smoke like crazy.