Insurers have little to fear with driverless technology

Dr. Christoph Lauterwasser, managing director, Allianz Center for Technology claims in a press release, The new rules of the road: Get ready for driverless driving’, that the automobile liability coverage is really ideally fitted to cover the situation with automation.

He believes there should be no concerns regarding insurance coverage and that this is crucial because the number of connected cars being sold on the market is increasing significantly. With higher sales and increasing connected vehicle adoption comes more vehicle data that can be used to support claims – such as the automated first notification of loss claims as well as the clarification of how accidents occurred in the first place.

He explains: “Sensor data allows insurers to know the extent of damage to the vehicle, whether the damage to the vehicle is more or less severe. Vehicle data in co-operation with the vehicle manufacturers, can serve similar purposes. With connectivity there will be cyber-risks to the vehicles because connected vehicles are connected to the internet and so, naturally, they will be a potential target for cyber-attacks. It’s an accumulation risk for insurers as many vehicles could be affected by a cyber-attack.”

Connectivity and automation

Automated, or autonomous driving, is in his view the next significant trend which will become reality over the next few years. Speaking primarily about the German market, Lauterwasser says Mercedes is introducing a Level 3 vehicle to the market this year – the first passenger car that is automated. He agrees that most people think about Tesla when it comes to autonomous driving, more than any other vehicle manufacturer, and explains that at present Tesla’s cars are operating at Level 2+ of autonomy – meaning that there is a need for human driver to pay attention to the road during transit.

He adds: “With Level 3, the driver may divert their attention from the other traffic according to the Road Traffic Act. It’s a first for German roads. This is something you can buy as a customer. This is a first step [towards] more automated and autonomous driving. In Germany the driverless vehicles can operate in defined operational domains under the new law on autonomous driving.”

The domain has to have been previously approved by the local authorities and by Germany’s Federal Motor Authority, which is connected to the Federal Ministry of Transport. “They have the task of making sure the vehicles are fit for driving and whether they can operate as autonomous vehicles,” he explains. There is also need for technical supervision, a center that directs vehicles that don’t know what to do in a given situation on the road by taking over control, remotely, to initiate a maneuver.

Market penetration

However, the most important trend in his view from a road safety and insurance perspective is the market penetration of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). He predicts that the market penetration of these technologies will exponentially increase. The outcome of this trend should be a reduction in the number of accidents. Yet, he foresees the complexity and the costs of repairing vehicle is likely to rise – even with the “a strong move towards electric vehicles, with new product offerings from the insurers side. They might, for example, be related to damages to the battery.”

To read the complete article, visit TU-Automotive.