Insurance Lags Self-Driving Advances

Insurance companies are not able to keep up with advancements in self-driving vehicles, something made tragically clear this weekend when a Tesla vehicle on autopilot was involved in a fatal crash. Currently, the insurance claims process for cars using self-driving systems is largely the same as for traditional vehicles, meaning when an investigation into the accident is completed, the insurer of the driver at fault pays for injuries and damages to the others, up to the limits of the policy. With self-driving cars there lingers the question of whether the human driver or the auto-pilot system was at fault, but insurers retain the right to “subrogate,” or file a claim against someone else, like the manufacturer or another insurer, to recoup its payment. Tesla’s auto-pilot system “does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does not allow the driver to abdicate responsibility,” said Khobi Brooklyn, a spokesman for the car company. Insurance companies as of now may not even know they are providing coverage for a self-driving vehicle. Fewer than a dozen states have enacted regulations specifically addressing self-driving cars.