UK plans unlimited fines for car firms that cheat emission rules

The UK government decided to address the issue more than two years since the Volkswagen scandal erupted where the German carmaker sold approximately 11m cars that contained a “defeat device” to detect when the car was being tested for carbon emissions and change its performance.

Transport Minister Jesse Norman announced on Friday, “We continue to take the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously, and we are framing new measures to crack down on emissions cheats in future.”

“Those who cheat should be held to proper account in this country, legally and financially, for their actions,” he added.

These new measures will go above and beyond Europe requirements which means the government will be able to fine any manufacturer who cheats the vehicle tests.

The UK government wants to prosecute car makers, importers and dealers that place a car with the cheat device on the British markets, independent of where it was made.

“At the moment, we are limited to taking action against a manufacturer who obtained or sought to obtain type approval in the UK. We intend to expand this so that we are able to take action against a manufacturer, importer or dealer who places a vehicle using a defeat device on the UK market,” said a UK government official.

Although the government in planning on prosecuting any future offences, the clampdown cannot be used retrospectively and Volkswagen can’t be fined for previous cheating.

Also, earlier this week Volkswagen has come under fire for testing emission fumes on humans and monkeys. Ten Java monkeys were locked in a room for four hours at a time and exposed to car fumes in experiments carried out in 2015.

In Germany a study emerged where the effects of inhaling nitrogen dioxide were tested on 25 human volunteers.

The aim of the tests was to prove the nitrogen oxide car emissions from diesel motors had decreased in the past years due to innovative technology.