The shady software that allowed Volkswagen's diesel engines to get around emissions tests was not a harmless dodge. According to the Associated Press, the pollution spewed by the engines for may be responsible for killing between 5 and 20 people in the United States annually. The AP used statistical and computer analyses to determine these figures.
Volkswagen inserted software into its cars that had its diesel engines which allowed them to get around government emissions tests. The vehicles spewed between 10 and 40 times more nitrogen oxides into the air than regulations allowed, leading to somewhere between 16 and 94 deaths in the United States over 7 years, with the annual count increasing more recently as more of the diesels were on the road. The estimated death toll was probably much higher in Europe, where more diesel VWs were sold. VW sold more than 10 million VW diesel cars in Europe since 2008, compared with less than half a million in the United States.
According to the AP, nitrogen oxides are part of smog and help carry tiny particles of soot. Soot particles cause about 50,000 deaths a year in the United States, mostly from heart problems. Nitrogen oxides can travel hundreds of miles, so pollution spewed in Pittsburgh can be felt on the East Coast. Even small additional amounts of nitrogen oxides worsened pollution along highways.
Experts calculate how much pollution costs society by looking at the value of lost lives, which are valued at $8.6 million each. The overall annual cost of the extra pollutants from the VW diesel engines ranged from $40 million to $170 million, the AP reported.
In a response to the AP's story, Volkswagen stated that the EPA noted that the diesel vehicles do not present a safety hazard. "General allegations regarding links between NOX emissions from these affected vehicles and specific health effects are unverified. We have received no confirmed reports that the emissions from such vehicles caused any actual health problem," the company said in a statement.
The calculations are based on estimated mileage and other factors and on a range of potential emissions per car. The computer simulation that made the death calculations use conservative medical studies as their baseline.
