Are Driverless Cars the Future?

Will driverless cars save lives and insurance premiums?

 

Haven’t you always wished you could own a car that could drive itself to work for you? Well, the technology does now exist and there could be a good number of driverless cars on the road in the near future. The trouble is, how do you know if a driverless car is going to make the right decisions in potentially life-threatening situations, for either you or people around you? Per Insurance News Net, “people prefer a self-driving car to act in the greater good, sacrificing its passenger if it can save a crowd of pedestrians.” Of course, then who would want to get into such a car?

 

The idea is that self-driving cars will eventually be safer than human-controlled cars. While theoretically this could be true, people are still not convinced that they’re a good idea. Many people hate the idea of algorithms making life-or-death-decisions. From an insurance point of view, it would seem that driverless cars are actually safer, since human error isn’t involved. But to get actual humans to ride in them is the major issue, since people are overly concerned with the ethical questions surrounding the algorithms that control them.

 

Driverless cars could well be the future of getting around for many people. From an insurance perspective, there would potentially be far fewer car accidents, meaning that it could actually lower premiums a great deal. It also shifts the blame for accidents from drivers to the vehicle makers and software designers instead. It’s an interesting trade-off that could actually save lives in the long run. It would be quite an adjustment to make for the auto insurance industry. But as these cars won’t likely be in mainstream use until the 2020’s or 2030’s, there is plenty of time to prepare.
How do you feel about driverless cars and the various benefits and drawbacks they offer?