An Associated Press statistical and computer analysis of Volkswagen’s emissions control cheating suggests the pollution work-around is the cause of between 16 and 94 deaths over seven years.
What bunk!
Such an unfounded analysis should not excuse the automaker from what it did or shield it from penalty of law, but even the most sophisticated computer model alleged to be used to complete the analysis cannot claim pollution from rigged VW vehicles was responsible for any specific number of deaths.
Such a statement is no more valuable than saying the majority of U.S. residents over the age of 100 will die in the next year or that people who weigh more than 400 pounds have a greater chance at a shorter life than those who weigh less than 200 pounds.
It’s akin to the predictions made 10 and 15 years ago about global warming – statements about the disappearance of polar bears, New York City being under water by 2015, an ice-free Arctic by 2012, none of which have occurred.
Scientists can say with authority that pollution makes it more difficult for people to breathe, that it’s worse on people with illnesses such as asthma, and that because of it more people with breathing problems will be hospitalized and cause the cost of health care to rise.
But too many factors go into the cause of one’s death for the claim to be made definitively that Volkswagen’s deception is responsible for any number of deaths.
Family history, lifestyle, geography, work and the ability to get proper treatment are just five factors of thousands that may play into one’s death.
“Statistically,” Carnegie Mellon environmental engineer professor Peter Adams said in the AP report about the analysis, “we can’t point out who died because of this policy, but some people have died or likely died as a result of this.”
Of course they can’t point out who died – or “likely died.” They couldn’t even if they autopsied every person in the United States who died and determined which of those died of lung-related causes. There are just too many unknowns.
Carmakers today know they must manufacture models that offer buyers comfort, performance, safety and price, and they have a responsibility to make them run as cleanly as possible. Volkswagen has the added burden of restoring its reputation, but those factors, and not somebody’s nonprovable, computer-generated, suggested number of deaths from emissions, should be the manufacturer’s motivation going forward.