While tomorrow’s self-driving cars could potentially disrupt the way they are insured, a new survey suggests that the technology could also change the way consumers approach insurance.
A new survey by market research company J.D. Power looked into how autonomous car technology and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) could affect insurance premiums and how consumers feel about it.
The survey found that while 22% of those surveyed said they will consider purchasing a “highly automated” car as their next vehicle, 40% of the participants said that they would switch car insurance companies if those companies offered an “autonomous discount.”
The same survey also revealed that insurance is the third biggest reason (15%) among consumers wanting to switch to a car with more ADAS features, behind lowered accident risk (26%) and reduced driving stress (24%).
J.D. Power also found that consumers are holding themselves to a high standard when it comes to accident liability in an automated vehicle crash. Almost 40% of the survey’s participants said that drivers have some responsibility when an accident occurs in an automated vehicle, while 22% said that the OEMs or the manufacturers of the autonomous sensor technology are to blame.
