The cost of autonomous vehicles

Self-driving vehicles are supposed to reduce the number of traffic fatalities. However, most of the general public, and even some insurance companies, have less faith in self-driving technology. Are driverless vehicles anywhere near prime time?

Self-driving vehicle crashes

There are currently no truly self-driving vehicles on the nation’s roadways, but that doesn’t stop owners of Level 2 vehicles from taking their focus off the road.

For the past few years, Tesla has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Several Tesla owners have gotten into crashes, and many believe the car manufacturer’s Full Self-Driving system is to blame.

Here are a few examples:

• On Feb. 19, a Tesla Model S driver was pronounced dead after crashing into a parked fire truck.
• Last July, two people were killed when a Tesla car crashed into the back of a parked tractor-trailer at a rest area in Alachua County, Fla.
• In October 2021, an owner of a Tesla Model S faced vehicular manslaughter charges, the first time felony charges have stemmed from a crash involving an automated driving system.
• In August 2019, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report blaming Autopilot for a 2018 crash involving a 2014 Tesla Model S and a 2006 Seagrave fire truck.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has expressed its concern over Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system. In a letter to NHTSA, OOIDA explained how the misleading name of Tesla’s autonomous system poses a danger to all motorists, including truckers.

“The use of unfinished and unproven automated technologies poses a significant threat to small-business truckers, and we urge you to take action to protect all road users and promote greater transparency and oversight of their development,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote.

AV insurance

Despite the claims of improving safety, the cost of insurance for autonomous vehicles will likely be more expensive.

According to Stephen Ritzler, team lead of trucking and logistics at CoverWallet, there are currently no discounts for Level 2 technology like Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system. In fact, insurance may cost more.

“If anything, it’s a larger risk to deal with autonomous vehicles in light of the loss history,” Ritzler told Land Line.

By “loss history,” Ritzler is referring to all of the high-profile Tesla crashes mentioned above.

Insurance rates today are based on a massive amount of data collected over decades. It is why insurance rates are more expensive for teens than someone in their 40s. It is why a Ford Mustang will cost more than a Toyota Corolla. It is why insurance is more expensive in some parts of the country. We know which factors are more or less safe for drivers.

However, we don’t have much data for autonomous vehicles. The data we do have, from Tesla vehicles for example, is not very promising.

Ritzler pointed out that for a while, there will be a mix of autonomous trucks and traditional vehicles on the road. Interactions with four-wheelers – e.g., drivers on their phones swerving into your lane, getting cut off, etc. – will continue with autonomous trucks. What are those trucks going to do when a passenger vehicle swerves into its lane or brake-checks it?

Another question is who is responsible for a crash? Ritzler said it could fall back on the manufacturer. However, there also are situations where the blame shifts to the safety manager of a carrier.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the majority of states have laws that permit the deployment or testing of high-level autonomous vehicles. Nearly all of those states require liability insurance ranging from $1 million to $5 million.

A few steps back

Autonomous truck tests have been successful in recent months. However, for every success story there appears to be another story highlighting autonomous vehicles’ defects.

In April, five self-driving vehicles owned by Waymo blocked traffic on a San Francisco residential street. The problem? Fog. Apparently, a dense fog can stop a Waymo vehicle in its tracks.

In March, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety President David Harkey gave remarks on an expert panel on autonomous vehicle safety on Capitol Hill. Essentially, the institute is not comfortable with truly self-driving vehicles.

“We believe it is critical for the driver to remain engaged in the driving task at all times and always be responsible for all actions of the vehicle,” Harkey said in prepared remarks. “We do not believe in the promise of technology to completely replace drivers and for the vehicle to assume all responsibility for vehicle operations.”

Harkey went on to explain the dangerous driving behaviors of drivers with Level 2 autonomous vehicles like Tesla.

“In observational studies, we have found that drivers using these systems tend to drive faster, look away from the road more frequently and for longer periods of time, and engage in more distracting behaviors,” Harkey said. “It is clear to us that some of the convenience of not paying attention to the driving task can lull some drivers into a false sense of security or create complacency.”

And what about privacy with all those cameras? Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Tesla employees privately shared “highly invasive videos and images recorded by customers’ car cameras.”

According to a AAA survey, two-thirds of Americans are afraid of fully self-driving vehicles. With so many fatal crashes, high insurance premiums and no confidence from the public and experts, it does not look like human drivers are going anywhere anytime soon. LL