Self-Driven Or Not, Car Insurance is Here To Stay

Various reasons lead to road accidents. An accident may take place due to the negligence of the driver. If the driver fails to control the vehicle at an appropriate time or fails to follow the traffic signals, it will lead to an accident.
The poor road conditions, a driver under the influence, weather conditions and natural calamities will also lead to accidents. With the introduction of the driverless cars, the control system will take decisions based on the comprehensive and up-to-date data. It is possible to reduce a certain percentage of accidents by going for self-driven or not vehicles.

Driverless vehicles

As soon as passengers get into the car, the driverless car will begin the journey. It will interpret the data which will be updated on a continuous basis and the best decision will be taken to drive the car. The application of brakes, acceleration, and gear shifting will take place automatically. It will follow the traffic guidelines and will drive the vehicle safely to the destination and back home.

Safety enhancement

The enhancement of safety with the driverless cars will help in the elimination of car insurance to the maximum possible extent. The Google self-driving vehicle program has completed more than 10, 00,000 miles on public roads with an accident count of 17. The accident count should come down to zero and the company should have the necessary data to prove the efficiency of the driverless car mechanism and its safety features.

New generation vehicles are being launched in the market with advanced safety systems such as Active Safety and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. However, the latest technologies are in the early stage of development and they should get the capability to offer driverless riding. If the automobile manufacturers are able to prove the lowest accident possibility with the installation of highly sophisticated equipment, the insurance companies may allow the lowest insurance premium.

Overcoming the challenges

There are many challenges that the self-driven car should overcome to decrease the car insurance premium or eliminate the car insurance altogether.

• Cyber security – The car manufacturer should prove that the car cannot be hacked. There are many ways to offer inputs and alter the existing setup. Hence, there is great need to develop a fool-proof system which cannot be tampered by any means. The automobile makers should go through the culture change to offer vehicles can deal with cyber security issues.
• Customization of cars – Most of the car drivers will customize the car as per their needs. The additional fittings and gadgets may compromise the safety of passengers. If new inputs are provided through driver-centric interaction, there will be a compromise on the computer-based decision-making process. Hence, it can adversely affect the overall efficiency in driving the car.
• Social messaging among cars – Car manufacturers should deal with the social messaging that takes place among cars. If a car gets a message to apply brakes, it should be able to verify the message. If the message comes through the unverified source, there will be a great disaster on the road.
• Political clearance – The self-driving cars should win the hearts of political administrators. When self-driving cars hit the road, the regulator should approve them. The self-driving cars should match the fatal accident history. The number of accidents that take place with self-driven cars should be less than the traditional cars to get approval from the authorities. The testing procedures that are recommended by regulators should be fulfilled by the vehicle manufacturers.
• New insurance cover – New insurance plans should be initiated by insurance companies as per the needs of driverless cars. In case of legal disputes, the owner or the manufacturer of the car will be liable for a penalty. Hence, new insurance plans should be planned as per the clarity provided by competent authorities.
• Ability to overcome bad weather conditions – The driverless cars should overcome the risks associated with bad weather conditions. There should be deployment of sensors to predict the rain, snow or sunshine. Companies should design cars to fulfill absolute driving in various weather conditions. It will take long time to overcome weather challenges.
• Interaction with others – the driving involves interaction with others. The interaction with other driver, pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are required to prevent accidents. It will take many years to develop cars that can interact with others.

Conclusion

As per Google estimation, the development of driverless car will take about 30 years. The car has to overcome technical and safety glitches. The company is very serious about the project and experiments are being conducted on private as well as public roads. The driverless car should overcome many challenges such as weather, the creation of self-driving maps, complex social interactions, bad weather conditions, design regulations, and cyber security. Even though the car insurance is not completely ruled out, the safety enhancement of cars will certainly have an impact on the insurance premium. Hence, the car insurance is here to stay even though you go for the self-driven car.