Re: An internal investigation suggests between 10-20 people involved
Do people understand that the minor excess exhaust emissions exhibited in the VW Diesel engines amounts to nothing but an embarrassing public relations situation that will cost VW and it's customers probably $50 BILLION or more when there is no real damage to anyone? If you bought one of the VW four cylinder Diesels affected you actually enjoyed better fuel economy than the EPA advertised rating and the minute difference in exhaust emissions world wide "may" according to the environmentalist have cost six to forty deaths over a period of 8 years these vehicles have been in operation.
Considering on average 100 people die everyday in the U.S. from traffic accidents of which more than likely 90% could have been prevented had the vehicle operator obeyed the laws and eliminated texting and talking on their cellphone. In addition if the DUI drivers and crack addicts behind the wheel were removed from operating a vehicle more than 90% of all vehicular deaths that occur in the U.S. could be eliminated yet no one is suing the cellphone companies, the DUI operators, the telephone companies, etc. to stop this insanity. So while the above entities are the principal cause of 100 vehicular deaths daily, seven days per week, year round, every year, nothing is done to stop the insane carnage yet the media goes postal over VW or some other auto company selling a product with some minor defect.
The media is duping the gullible public for huge financial profit. You don't see the media asking for federal investigations into the 40,000 deaths per year in the U.S. primarily caused by people talking on cellphones, violating vehicular traffic laws, driving DUI, etc. You don't see the media explaining how terrible it is to be killing 100 people per day everyday when this is almost entirely preventable. Yet the media and the clueless talking heads in DC and elsewhere are "piling on" VW as if they were ax murderers or worst - elected politicians. Does anyone think the House Speaker should have engaged in inappropriate sex with a teenager and then lied to the FBI and paid bribe money to keep it all quiet? Maybe those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Those in the media with a technical clue (and there are a few) should explain to the public (some have) that the VW scandal is completely over blown and not the end of the world or even a significant event other than to those who can profit from making it a big deal. Almost no major media has reported the extremely low excess actual volume of NOx in the exhaust is insignificant, yet it is. Instead the media uses expressions such as "up to nine times" or "up to forty times" the NOx allowed which sounds horrible until you understand the U.S. has the most stringent exhaust pollution requirements for passenger Diesel cars in the world - by virtue of political agendas that have nothing to do with public health or a better environment. Thus forty times .3 of a gram per mile of NOx is a very insignificant volume of pollutant and that has actually never occurred. Mainstream media can't be bothered getting the story straight.
IMNHO it's sad that it is so easy to dupe and mislead the public on most matters. Probably not one in a million people will read this post and actually do some fact checking to see that the VW scandal which appears to have been orchestrated by a small group of 10-20 rogue VW employees, could end up being perceived by the masses as some outrageous evil act against society when it's literally a very insignificant lapse in judgment by a small group of people who have damaged not only the VW brand but the public's perception of the company, it's hundreds of thousands of dedicated employees and it's products. You don't hear many in the media reporting that a simple software upgrade can fix the minute emissions issue, but it's true. You don't hear many in the media quantifying the minute difference in exhaust pollutants by volume. Instead you get sensationalism, misinformation, false conclusions and a ton of technical ignorance that hurts and confuses consumers, new car dealers and VW owners as a group even though none of these entities has done anything wrong.
VW should certainly be held accountable for all violations of emissions laws but they should certainly not be persecuted for the rogue acts of a small group of people within the company. The 300+ U.S. class action lawsuits will result in lawyers reaping millions in legal fees per law firm while VW owners are likely to get a small financial compensation for any perceived loss resulting from the mass hysteria in the media over a trivial issue. While current VW Diesel vehicle resale values have dropped, in a few years they will return as the vehicles will comply with all emissions requirements and perform just fine as they did previously.
At the end of the day however many people will lose their jobs as a result of the cost being charged to VW for a trivial violation of emissions laws while the lawyers enjoy jackpot justice and windfall profits from suing everyone they can. It may come as a surprise to many but increasing unemployment and handing hundreds of millions in legal fees to lawyers is not a good economic strategy. People all over the world will be injured by the media's hyperbole and mission to extract revenge for a minor violation of the exhaust emissions laws. Most people have no clue at all how insignificant the emissions violations are nor are they ever likely to learn this from mainstream media because the media is clueless and callous for the most part. Thus ignorance really is bliss for many.