Tag: autonomous vehicles

Whose Insurance Covers an Accident Between Two Autonomous Vehicles?

A Washington Examiner article appeared in my Insurance Journal feed earlier this week raising one of the most interesting questions I’ve seen in a long time and that is, “If two self-driving cars get into an accident, whose insurance covers the damage?” I’m not aware of that happening yet, but it probably will happen. After all, the software that guides these vehicles is still being shaped as both human developers and artificial intelligence, and both are discovering things they may not have considered. There are two scenarios that give us a hint as to the possible answer.

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Autonomous Cars, Ethical Questions and Insurance

Imagine you’re riding in an autonomous or self-driving vehicle. The car is traveling 35 to 40 miles per hour and a pedestrian suddenly walks out in front of your vehicle. Complicating the issue there is a concrete barrier in the oncoming lane. Hitting the pedestrian may result in killing them while hitting the concrete barrier may result in the death of the vehicle passenger. What will the car do? Who will be liable?

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An Update on Driverless Cars and Car Insurance

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent a letter to the head of Google’s self-driving car program on February 4th stating according to federal safety standards, a self-driving or autonomous vehicle’s software could be considered a “driver.” This announcement, along with a couple of other items that have come to light in the past few weeks provide an interesting perspective on autonomous vehicles and car insurance.

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