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Insurers Are Rewarding Tesla Owners For Using Autopilot (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the direct-deposit dept.

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.

14 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Insurance Company Math by zenbi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Our rates have decreased by 40%! Lets give them a discount of 5% because we are so generous!

  2. Today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... it's switch on your autopilot for a 5% discount.

    Tomorrow, it will be manual controls disabled unless you pay the 500% self-drive (i.e.: think "self-serve", you get to drive it your self!) premium.

    1. Re:Today by RhettLivingston · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:Today by RhettLivingston · · Score: 2

      And windshields - seriously. It won't be long before it will be cheaper to paper the inside of the car with displays, and we'll just be able to display whatever scenery or videos we want. Myself, I'll have to have scenery to avoid sickness.

    3. Re:Today by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 2

      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.

      We can only hope the first big EMP comes before society makes that many short-sighted utopian decisions in a row so we'll only be partially screwed and will have a chance to recover.

    4. Re:Today by RhettLivingston · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

  3. Re:That's the way to do it by Jeremi · · Score: 2

    Most humans aren't very good at assessing risk, since they tend to rely on emotion and anecdote.

    Insurance companies, OTOH, live or die by the accuracy of their risk assessment, and as such they do a proper statistical analysis and go by the actuarial tables -- or they go out of business.

    Therefore I'm inclined to weigh the insurance companies' ideas about what improves safety more heavily than shouts of "OMG look what happened that one time though" on Slashdot.

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  4. Re:That's the way to do it by belthize · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  5. Re:That's the way to do it by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    You're completely missing the point. I'm not denying that people in general get into less accidents. The insurance company doesn't care whether Autopilot causes an accident for someone or not, they're happy to charge either way. I'm just saying the person who had Autopilot get them into an accident due to faulty programming and lack of testing, they don't deserve to have their premiums go up.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  6. Re:That's the way to do it by belthize · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  7. Is there decapitation waver to sign? by sinij · · Score: 2

    Is there decapitation waver that I have to sign to get this discount?

  8. Re:Self-selecting set, IMHO by geekmux · · Score: 2

    Those with such skills likely know it

    Nope. 80% of drivers rate themselves "above average".

    "Received 27 April 1984, Revised 22 May 1985"

    I can think of a billion reasons why your reference study is worthless.

    "Do you use your smartphone while driving?" is the only question necessary to prove how bad drivers are today. Self-assessments are now irrelevant.

  9. Re:Driving is a waste of time. by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    I'm amazed so many people have anything productive they can do in a car. Usually the ride is too short to read a book or study significantly or get any amount of work done. I'm not at home, so I'm missing time with my family anyway. Personally I just want to get to my destination as quickly as I can regardless.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  10. Singular by UsuallyReasonable · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The article talks about one insurance company; the headline says "insurers". Not the best job composing that headline.