Insurers ask who should pay for a self-driving car crash?

DutchNews, November 23, 2015

The arrival of self-driving cars means everyone will have to have all risk insurance, according to the Dutch insurers association VVV. 

Both drivers and technology will be responsible for ensuring safe driving, giving rise to complex claims and responsibilities, the organisation says. 

Currently, drivers who are deemed to be responsible for traffic accidents have to pay the victims but this will become more complicated when software and technology has a role, said VVV spokesman Rudi Buis.

‘Determining who is responsible will take time and will be longer before payouts are made,’ he told BNR radio. 

Bastiaan Krosse, who heads the automated driving programme at research institute TNO said decisions out insurance need to be taken now, before the self-driving car becomes a reality.

‘If nothing has been sorted out and there is continued uncertainty over responsibility, then there is a major problem,’ he said.