Autonomous Cars Shift Insurance Liability Toward Manufacturers

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If a self-driving car gets in an accident due to a malfunction or computer error, who pays for the damages?

"Although accident rates will theoretically fall, new risks will come with autonomous vehicles," said Domenico Savarese, Group head of Proposition Development and Telematics at Zurich Insurance. "What should be done in the case of a faulty software algorithm? Should manufacturers be required to monitor vehicles post-sale in the case of a malfunction or a hacker attack?" Savarese asked.
 
insurance companies love new ideas.

they'll double dip and hit the owner and the manufacturer.

don't worry about them.

they have more lobbyists than god.
 
This right here, more than anything else, is what has the potential to kill autonomous cars.
 
So if the manufacture is liable post-sale, what happens when they End of Life the software after 4 - 5 years? Forced to buy a new car, or do you take all the risk for allowing a no longer supported automobile to drive itself on the roads?

I really like the questions that self driving cars bring up, it's interesting.
 
IMO, keep it simple, automous freeway driving, manual driving on city streets. Then the liability of killing people goes back to the actual driver of the car.

Of course 3rd party blackbox type device to put in your car might be a worthy investment so that you can refute any manufacturer saying it wasn't their software that was at fault.
 
sfsuphysics said:
IMO, keep it simple, automous freeway driving, manual driving on city streets. Then the liability of killing people goes back to the actual driver of the car.

Of course 3rd party blackbox type device to put in your car might be a worthy investment so that you can refute any manufacturer saying it wasn't their software that was at fault.
Click to expand...

That kind of removes the whole point of an autonomous car.

The only reason to get one would be the ability to not worry about drinking whe. You are out, hopping in and pushing the "home" button without having to get an expensive taxi, or take stupid risks of killing yourself, others or getting a DUI.
 
Well, that pushes back autonomous cars another 10 years at least. Car manufacturers aren't going to be keen on taking that responsibility. I can't see them being commercially available before 2030 and they'll be pricey as hell.
 
sfsuphysics said:
IMO, keep it simple, automous freeway driving, manual driving on city streets. Then the liability of killing people goes back to the actual driver of the car.

Of course 3rd party blackbox type device to put in your car might be a worthy investment so that you can refute any manufacturer saying it wasn't their software that was at fault.
Click to expand...
City driving of the only place I would actually want the car to drive itself. Especially here in NY..30mph zones in the middle of freaking nowhere anger me.
 
Manufacturers will just write in the EULA that the driver is responsible for the car at all times, insurance companies will accept that and continue charging customers similar rates for greatly reduced risks.
 
So what you're saying is:

Nothing will change other that maybe less people will die.

OK, sounds good I guess?
 
rotarymotor said:
So what you're saying is:

Nothing will change other that maybe less people will die.

OK, sounds good I guess?
Click to expand...
No, I'm saying it's going to put a lot of people out of work. Just think of the poor lawyers...Autonomous cars are going to put all those personal injury auto accident lawyers out of business!
 
I predict autonomy will become a paid monthly service. You'll get it for free during the vehicle's warranty service, then after that you pay or it gets shut off. When the manufacturer decides the car is too old to support, autonomy gets shut off permanently, and it becomes a conventional vehicle.
 
Wrecked Em said:
I predict autonomy will become a paid monthly service. You'll get it for free during the vehicle's warranty service, then after that you pay or it gets shut off. When the manufacturer decides the car is too old to support, autonomy gets shut off permanently, and it becomes a conventional vehicle.
Click to expand...

I don't see it being a subscription service, but I do see the autonomous mode requiring a lot of expensive working sensors, and when ANY of those fail the car simply won't allow autonomous mode. When the warranty is up, I doubt many people are going to be interested in paying out of pocket for the sensor repairs, easier to just buy the new upgraded model. Once you have autonomous mode, you're not going to want to go back to turning the steering wheel yourself.
 
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