If you happen to be Volkswagen at this point in time, it is not a very good place to be in – as a company, and also as an employee. After all, their diesel emissions cheating scandal have brought about a huge furore over the past month, not to mention casting a blanket of gloom over the city of Wolfsburg – but thankfully a recall was the least that they could do. A new study that was published in the peer-reviewed Environmental Research Letters claims that the diesel emissions cheats might have far reaching implications – legal and financial apart, including that of human lives.
Two teams – one from Harvard University and the other from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology came to a conclusion – that the extra pollution which is the result of the 2.0-liter, turbodiesel four-cylinders and their emissions defeat devices might end up being responsible for 59 premature deaths, and this would be limited to America alone, so the worldwide figure should be bumped up by some.
It might not sound like much, where 59 deaths is contrasted against a population of close to 320 million people, but do bear in mind that is because less than 500,000 of its high-pollution diesels were sold Stateside. So far, Volkswagen has recalled 11 million 2.0-liter diesels worldwide, and this will amount to 1,320 premature deaths globally. Of course, it is simplifying the entire study at a glance, but at least it is a very rough estimate on the possible premature deaths that result from VW’s emissions cheat.
Filed in . Read more about Volkswagen. Source: autoblog