One leading expert has assured the Australian industry that the advent of driverless cars will not be the “death knell of insurance.”
Mervyn Rea, head of Risk Engineering at
Zurich Australia,
told Insurance Business that while autonomous vehicles may bring about great changes for the insurance industry, the industry itself will remain in some form.
“This is not the death knell of insurance it is just a new way of looking at insurance and coming up with a policy that truly meets policy holders expectations,” Rea said.
One
Insurance Business reader agreed with Rea’s assessment as commenter Bob wrote that the industry will still have a diverse list of risks to choose from.
“Even if driverless cars don't crash we have still have hail storms, bush fires, theft, vandalism and other potential losses that owners will need and want insurance for,” Bob wrote.
Another reader saw the potential of a nightmare scenario thanks to the advent of autonomous vehicles.
“Why on earth would you allow a robot to drive a car,” commenter Paul wrote.
“It is incomprehensible unless we have arrived at an Orwellian dystopia where all individual decisions are taken out of play to satisfy the nanny state's urge to control everything.”
What do you think? Are driverless cars a good thing for the industry and society or will they prove to be more trouble than they are worth? Let us know in the comments below.
