Autonomous vehicles are already on our streets. But are we ready for them? Before they become ubiquitous, consumers, policymakers, and insurers must reconcile themselves with the challenges that such vehicles present. Simultaneously, they must recognize the opportunities. While such a process will be difficult, it will also create an opening to modernize legacy regulatory structures and to find new opportunities for economic growth.

This session will begin by describing the taxonomy employed to understand autonomous vehicle technology and will then systematically consider the disruptive effects of autonomous vehicles on the insurance industry. Specifically, it will discuss the future of automobile insurance regulation (both state and – potentially – federal); the challenges that autonomous vehicles present to operational concerns like rating, underwriting, and claims management; and, the shifting and unsettled liability landscape. The session will conclude with a description of the most up-to-date legislative and regulatory developments in the field.

What participants will learn:

• What, as a technical matter, highly automated vehicles are and which entities regulate the various elements of their operation.
• The projected business impact of various types of automated transportation on the auto insurance industry.
• How new operational challenges will manifest themselves to the insurance industry, including how new approaches to rating, underwriting, and claims practices may demand regulatory updates to enable the technology's smooth deployment.
• How, depending on the level of the technology, the civil justice system may apportion liability for the various aspects of autonomous vehicle operation, ownership, and maintenance.
• What recent developments of note have occurred in state legislatures, insurance departments, and at the federal level that allow us to better understand the direction of the law and how insurers might respond.