Volvo Promises Deathproof Cars by 2020

[AZDave]

What is your current auto book today? What will it be in five, ten, fifteen years from now?

All this safe car and driverless car technology is soon to be implemented and it is going to impact the auto rates.

Or am I just being paranoid?

Volvo promises deathproof cars by 2020 - Jan. 20, 2016

 

[insurance1822]

Ya I keep worrying about this too. But that being said, it will take a longggg time until this technology is in the hands of masses of everyday people. I mean how many people will be buying the new driver-less cars? They'll still get hit by other stuff & all you need is for 1 car to screw up (and it will...) where somebody gets hurt and/or killed & it comes to a screeching halt (at least that's my take.)

I believe that it won't impact ME or my book....but by the time I'm getting out of the business I'm pretty sure our business model will be gone.

I mean not until they're in the hands of the MASSES can insurer's start really collecting data & even then it will be a quagmire for them to learn how to price it.

I believe we're good. I'm 30 sooo these people better not screw up my life plan. If it goes this direction, I'm pretty sure that big money behind the scenes will put a halt to it somehow. If you have all the rich insurance companies staring at something that can put them out of business...I can see them doing something to fight it. OR...a few rich executives get together and put out a hit on the main developers who are spear heading this technology.

 

[AZDave]

One of my carriers is talking a 70% shrinkage in auto rates in 20 years. That is quite large. Not sure I could see that much.

I personally could care less if I sold another personal auto policy. I shifted gears a couple years ago to commercial lines and get annoyed with the grind and demands of auto insurance. If I could sell my auto and home book and keep my commercial book, I seriously would. Just burned out on it. No more love. I won't turn away a good package referral, but I have been giving away auto only leads.

Guess I don't see much of a future in personal auto insurnace.

 

[GXR2]

I'd estimate we're good for another 20 years, buy then this business model will be gone. I'll be retired by then.

 

[nyc2phi]

The industry watches these things closely and are already planning ways to stay relevant. Adding features to homeowners insurance plans to get some additional premium, a focus on commercial products enhancements, and new ways of rating auto are just some of the many things.

Underwriting companies are the most successful and those companies will always need agents to do that underwriting.

 

[djs]

Somewhat unrelated.....

I got a chance a while back to talk with the head of research into driverless cars for a fairly large Japanese car manufacturer. He was pretty adamant that the technology for driverless cars is pretty close to being reality, in fact, they can do it today, though there are still a couple of problem situations they need to sort out to be 'real'.

I got to see a lot of images of how the radar / sonar / imaging systems work, how they predict what 'might' happen, etc. They have logged a LOT of miles testing all of this.

He went so far as to say that driverless cars with todays technology would avoid a lot of accidents that drivers get into, but they would probably cause 1 accident for every 100 that they prevented.

He flat out admitted that the public won't accept a driverless car getting into even 1 accident where the car could have in any way, even a super human way, have avoided. This is despite the fact that he has solid evidence that it would have avoided 100 others, which is a huge improvement.

Because of this, they continue to figure out ways to detect a small kid running out from between cars right in front of an oncoming driverless car. They continue to work on ways to detect car doors that might be opened into traffic. There are all sorts of things that happen every day that can cause an issue but the public wants almost 100% safety out of a driverless car.

For anyone who has driven in New York city and tried to cross Broadway near times square and knows the 'throngs' of pedestrians you run into can understand how a driverless car would come to a completely stop and just sit there. A real driver keeps going, the pedestrians make a hole to fit the moving car. Its the New York way. It freaks out anyone who hasn't witnessed it before.

Lots of work to do yet, but the technology is close.

Dan

P.S. Driverless cars are actually easy, if you build roads to accommodate them. Its the mixture of people driving and computers trying to figure out people that becomes complicated.

 

[insurance1822]

the only people who can navigate NYC roads like you're describing are spiritually possessed. I drove through once & I was 5 seconds away from slamming my breaks & calling 911 to airlift me home.

 

[djs]

the only people who can navigate NYC roads like you're describing are spiritually possessed. I drove through once & I was 5 seconds away from slamming my breaks & calling 911 to airlift me home.

I used to drive in Manhattan almost every day. Once you learn the method to the madness, you find out it is organized chaos. For those that have never driven in Manhattan, here are the abridged rules that I was told when I first started. Anyone who has driven in Manhattan will understand these, though I haven't done it for about 20 years now....:

- White lines are suggestions if the traffic is light. Otherwise, 3 cars can fit in 2 lanes, 8 cars in 5 lanes. Squeeze in.
- Most streets are one way. When driving in a straight line, be in the opposite lane of the way people turn. This helps prevent people making turns from impeding your flow. Yes, this means you zigzag.
- Don't slow down for pedestrians. Everything is timed. They will clear your bumper by at least 3 inches. If you slow down, they will run into your car. Learned this the hard way, both as a driver and as a pedestrian.
- Ambulances actually do drive down sidewalks.
- If a firetruck comes by, jump in right behind them and tailgate. Everyone gets out of your way. As a side note, this doesn't work with police cars.
- If you don't like the way I drive..... stay off the sidewalk!
- Above all else, don't block the box. The brownies will get you! When you understand this statement, you can safely drive in Manhattan.... hold it, did I say safely drive?

Dan

 

[JohnWalker]

I'm not sure if this is real but it looks like they've got some serious work to do...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2JtAhwUldM