Europe has 100 million cars more than the rest of the world. The cars emit NOx which causes premature deaths throughout the European countries. The NOx is a primary factor in causing air pollution and pollution alone has caused 425,000 premature deaths annually in EU28, Norway, and Switzerland.

90% of these deaths were due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. If 10,000 premature deaths occur due to NOx emissions from cars, vans and light commercial vehicles, half of those deaths are due to NOx emissions being much higher than limit values in real-world driving.

Transport expert Jens Borken-Kleefeld says that if diesel car emissions were as low as petrol cars, three-quarters of those deaths could be avoided. Because petrol cars emit lower NOx.

In a study conducted by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, and the Dept. Space, Earth & Environment at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the countries found with the highest number of deaths due to NOx emission are Italy, Germany, and France. These countries have a high population and majority of them uses diesel cars. The crisis is much higher in Italy than it is in France. However, Norway, Cyprus, and Finland are at 14% lower risk than most of the EU countries.