Posted on 01/04/2016 1:26:58 PM PST by Citizen Zed
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday filed a civil lawsuit against Volkswagen AG for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act by installing illegal devices to impair emission control systems in nearly 600,000 vehicles.
The allegations against Volkswagen, along with its Audi and Porsche units, carry penalties that could cost the automaker billions of dollars, a senior Justice Department official said. VW could face fines in theory exceeding $90 billion - or as much as $37,500 per vehicle per violation of the law, based on the complaint. In September, government regulators initially said VW could face fines in excess of $18 billion.
"The United States will pursue all appropriate remedies against Volkswagen to redress the violations of our nation's clean air laws," said Assistant Attorney General John Cruden, head of the departments environment and natural resources division.
The Justice Department lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, accuses Volkswagen of four counts of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act, including tampering with the emissions control system and failing to report violations.
The lawsuit is being filed in the Eastern District of Michigan and then transferred to Northern California, where class-action lawsuits against Volkswagen are pending.
"We're alleging that they knew what they were doing, they intentionally violated the law and that the consequences were significant to health," the senior Justice Department official said.
The Justice Department has also been investigating criminal fraud allegations against Volkswagen for misleading U.S. consumers and regulators. Criminal charges would require a higher burden of proof than the civil lawsuit.
The civil lawsuit reflects the expanding number of allegations against Volkswagen since the company first admitted in September to installing cheat devices in several of its 2.0 liter diesel vehicle models.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Check out Peking for comparison.
Working on automotive programs back in the early days of electronic engine control, people often joked that it might be cheaper to just rig the software to pass the CAFE testing. Guess not...
If a car that has been tweaked passes the government mandated test, then what is the issue?
It is their equipment, their test and they even put the little sticker on your windshield that proves that you pass.
“If a car that has been tweaked passes the government mandated test, then what is the issue?”
The ‘issue’ is that they broke the law and mislead consumers.
Because the tweaking wasn’t to actually pass the test, the tweaking was GAME the test. They made it so the computer would know the car is being tested and make the car run differently during the test, but under normal operating condition it would not pass the test.
And so the car will not pass the test sometime in the future? When the engine wears a bit — design to test margin?
Maybe this really proves that these tests are invalid and a joke. That the government set up the regulations and testing that are meaningless but cost the car manufacturers and consumers a fortune.
If a tweaked car passes, then clearly the test is not good enough.
FUEPA.
“If a tweaked car passes, then clearly the test is not good enough.”
If someone gives you a counterfeit $100 bill and your ‘test’ fails to detect it, it is ok to pass counterfeit bills?
I would think that their defense is “we were just following the law. As written”
They are. In 99/2000 I built a 79 Ford F150 with a 400 and several hot rod parts( Edelbrock intake/Holley 570 Vac secondary/ MSD Digital 6 ignition) and all emissions gear stripped. We took it to a station to have the smog check done for the hell of it.
The guy said it was cleaner than many new cars of that era.
Edit - Holley 670
§86.1809-01 Prohibition of defeat devices.
(a) No new light-duty vehicle, light-duty truck, or complete heavy-duty vehicle shall be equipped with a defeat device.
I had a 86 CJ7. Left the stock motor in. Plugged every vaccuum tube, removed all emmision controls and yanked the cat. Passed with flying colors.
“VW could face fines in theory exceeding $90 billion - or as much as $37,500 per vehicle per violation of the law, based on the complaint. In September, government regulators initially said VW could face fines in excess of $18 billion.”
If I were VW, I’d just declare bankruptcy and let the various governments fight over the table scraps...but not before I took out a series of TV, print and internet ads, naming names and blaming overbearing regulations (foisted on the public by a bunch of nanny-staters) for the problems, including unemployment.
So a private corporation willingly violates established rules and is punished to the point of endangering its abilit to survive.
The government in the form of the irs does exactly the same thing and not only is no one held accountable but those involved are rewarded
Yeah. Government
Then maybe their test for detecting counterfeit bills is not that good and they need to improve it?
“And so the car will not pass the test sometime in the future? When the engine wears a bit — design to test margin?”
Please see CFR on ‘useful life’.
I bet. A well taken care of, well tuned engine can run very clean.
Someday in the future people will try to figure out the history of the United States of America (or Western civilization in general) in the twentieth and twenty first centuries and think that there must have been something wrong with the drinking water as to make people so stupid as to destroy their civilization over the most mundane issues of the time (i.e. Climate “Change”). IMHO
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.