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Insurers Are Rewarding Tesla Owners For Using Autopilot (reuters.com)
Britain's largest auto insurance company Direct Line is testing out an idea to let Tesla owners receive a 5% discount for switching on the car's autopilot system, seeking to encourage use of a system it hopes will cut down on accidents. Reuters reports: The move - confirmed by company representatives in response to Reuters' questions - is Tesla's only tie-up in the UK and comes at a time when the company is trying to convince insurers that its internet-connected vehicles are statistically safer. Direct Line said it was too early to say whether the use of the autopilot system produced a safety record that justified lower premiums. It said it was charging less to encourage use of the system and aid research.
"Crash rates across all Tesla models have fallen by 40 percent since the introduction of the autopilot system ... However, when owners seek to insure their Tesla vehicles, this is not reflected in the pricing of premiums," Daniel Pearce, Financial Analyst at GlobalData, said. Direct Line, which is enjoying soaring motor insurance prices in Britain, said it sets premiums for Tesla drivers based on the risk they present, including who is driving, their age, driving experience and claim history.
"Crash rates across all Tesla models have fallen by 40 percent since the introduction of the autopilot system ... However, when owners seek to insure their Tesla vehicles, this is not reflected in the pricing of premiums," Daniel Pearce, Financial Analyst at GlobalData, said. Direct Line, which is enjoying soaring motor insurance prices in Britain, said it sets premiums for Tesla drivers based on the risk they present, including who is driving, their age, driving experience and claim history.
Our rates have decreased by 40%! Lets give them a discount of 5% because we are so generous!
Even if you're so convinced that your situational awareness and reaction times are better than a computer's (they're not) you should at least root for everybody else to be using autopilot because it's certainly better than the average driver.
I'll feel a damn sight safer driving when all the other cars aren't being piloted by distracted meat sacks.
Exactly. We aren't there yet, but there will come a point where insurance rates for manual driving will start following a geometric curve. When they hit a steep enough point, there will be a serious discussion of outlawing manual driving so that we can start saving money on all of the vehicle safety equipment such as seat belts, airbags, and bumpers and get rid of speed limits and tailgating laws that reduce drafting efficiency. Long before that, the police departments will no longer be able to justify patrolling for speeders. Just one more job wiped out by AI.
Who ever said anything about them never getting in an accident. It's not a question of perfect, it's a question of better, and they're demonstrably better.
Oh, I'd agree. Without tech, our food supplies would collapse and less than one in ten would survive the initial starvation. I'm all for getting rid of all of the jobs. It would just be nice if we'd start working on the plan for distributing resources that isn't earnings-based before it happens.