Driverless cars to cut the cost of car insurance in half by 2020

Experts say that communication between the cars could virtually eliminate the 'bad driving' human element

Alexander Ward
Saturday 23 May 2015 12:21 BST
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The cost of car insurance could halve by 2020 with more driverless cars on the road, according to industry experts.

The new technology, where new cars park and drive on the motorway automatically, could cut annual premiums by an average of £265 with five years due to the speed at which it is developing.

Figures recently released to the Telegraph show that the driverless vehicles are expected to “eliminate bad driving,” which is the cause of 90 per cent of road accidents.

The vehicles are designed to communicate with each other in order to avoid collision.

The development comes after the government sought to change The Highway Act 1835 earlier this week, which could have prevented the testing of two-seater driverless pods from being tested.

According to the AA, car insurance premiums have fallen by 5.8 per cent in the past 12 months with the vast majority of insurance claims, 94 per cent, relating to whiplash and car parking disputes.

John Leech, head of auto at consultancy KPMG told the Telegraph: “Insurance premiums could halve once vehicles which communicate with each other, and an ‘autopilot mode’ when driving on the motorway, are developed – this is likely to happen by 2020.”

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