Many have predicted that self-driving cars will be the future of our transportation. Elon Musk, even emphasizes that Tesla will roll out its ‘truly self-driving cars by 2020. No one can assure when the self-driving cars will arrive, it can be a year or five years from now. However, we need to consider how driverless cars will get insured.
Also read: Didi Chuxing’s Electric Vehicle Charging Network
The shift of liabilities
Autonomous cars shift the responsibility of driving from humans to autonomous cars technology. Therefore, there is an urgency for the existing liability laws to also evolve. The law has to fairly identify the appropriate remedies for damage and injury.
Many expect that car manufacturers and software developers will ultimately become risk-bearers as accidents. The cause of the accidents can be hardware failures, hacking, and bugs. Besides, the accident cause can be issued with public infrastructures like road sensors and signals.
This issue worries many auto manufacturers. Take Chinese auto manufacturer, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd., as an example. The company has set up a joint venture with China tech giant Tencent, last year. They plan to create an autonomous-driving sector with a focus on Internet-connected driving. Besides, they also plan to use artificial intelligence and big data technologies. To support the plans, the Chinese auto manufacturer also starts to offer free insurance for its current self-parking features.
Also read: Introducing Carro, Southeast Asia’s Future for Car Dealings
Self-parking is the company’s current feature. It refers to automatic parking. On other words, it is an autonomous car-maneuvering system that moves a vehicle from a traffic lane into a parking spot.
Changan Automobile said that if an accident occurs with one of its vehicles. Meanwhile, the cause is the fault of the computer valet, the insurer will pay. They will pay up to US$57,800 for property loss or damage. Besides, they will also pay around US$21,700 for death or injuries.
