UK insurance chief says babies born today may never need to learn to drive

June 6, 2017 Read time: 1 min

Axa UK’s chief executive, Amanda Blanc, has predicted that "babies born today may never have to take a driving test".

Self-driving technology is moving so fast that autonomous cars could be on the roads within 15 years, she told the Daily Telegraph, and it is important that the insurance industry is prepared for their arrival, when vehicles could be controlled by a computer. She commented that the insurance industry has a key role to play in building a driverless future and the insurance risks involved, adding that "driverless cars will not be able to take to the roads [without that]”.

Blanc warned that the insurance sector will have to adapt, although insurance rates may fall in line with lower accident rates. She noted that a car in auto-pilot is expected to make roads "much safer and increase mobility for vulnerable members of society," with those unable to get car insurance now likely to be able to in future.

Axa is involved in several Government-backed projects which aim to produce a blueprint for the legal implications of driverless cars, while 4236 Direct Line is developing a trial into self-driving technology with FiveAI, a Cambridge-based artificial intelligence firm.

Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Need for simpler urban tolling solutions
    January 10, 2013
    A common assumption, even amongst informed observers, is that there’s but a handful of urban charging schemes in operation around the world and scant prospect of that changing any time soon. Larger city-sized schemes such as Singapore, London and Stockholm come readily to mind but if we take a wider view and also consider urban access control and Low Emission Zones (LEZs) then the picture changes rather radically. There is a notable concentration of such schemes in Europe but worldwide the number is comfort
    Read More
  • IBTTA: industry must commit to trust and accountability
    August 23, 2018
    Without a commitment to trust and accountability, the modern road tolling industry would not have the bedrock which it requires – and which customers demand, says IBTTA’s Bill Cramer When Tim Stewart, executive director of Colorado’s E-470 Public Highway Authority, settled on ‘trust and accountability’ as the themes for his year as IBTTA president, it was a very deliberate choice. Stewart was looking for language that would help deliver the global tolling industry’s message of service excellence to cust
    Read More
  • Self-driving vehicles ‘may not improve road safety’
    January 28, 2015
    Self-driving vehicles are expected to improve road safety, improve the mobility of those who currently cannot use conventional vehicles and reduce emissions. However, a new report by researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) reviews some of the safety aspects attributed to autonomous vehicles and indicates that safety is likely to be an issue as long as self-driving cars share the road with conventional vehicles. Report authors Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoe
    Read More
  • UK science centre gears up to become major driverless car test site following report’s findings
    February 27, 2017
    A consortium led by services provider Amey and partners RACE, Oxbotica, Siemens and Westbourne Communications has published the findings of its research into public perceptions of driverless cars. The PAVE (People in Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Environments) project engaged with over 800 people face-to-face through exhibitions, street surveys and workshops with industry experts and 500 feedback forms were collected. The report, which was overseen by Westbourne Communications, indicates that most peop
    Read More

Highlighted Content