Good driver discounts? Accident premium hikes? These are about to go extinct, along with a good portion of auto insurance profits. Because in just three years’ time, driverless cars are going to start hitting the roads and reshaping a host of industries — not to mention all of our lives.
But before we look at how, exactly, our lives will change, let’s explore a curious feature of this radical innovation: it’s coming primarily from outside the auto industry itself.
Two days ago, Tesla released autopilot software for its Model S cars that allows for hands- and feet-free driving in either stop-and-go traffic or highway speeds. It does not yet allow for fully-autonomous driving not because of any technical constraints — the tech is already there and ready to go — but simply because of regulatory and insurance concerns.
Tesla said it plans to release its first fully-driverless car in three years. Meanwhile, technology giants Google and Apple are also furiously at work on their own autonomous vehicles. Reporting from last month’s Frankfurt International Motor Show, The New York Times noted that “Along with Google, Apple has focused the minds of auto executives on the challenge posed by new technologies that have the potential to disrupt traditional auto industry hierarchies.”
So it’s outsiders like Apple, Google, and Tesla who are pioneering the road to an on-demand autonomous vehicle future that will totally disrupt not only the auto industry, but a dozen other industries as well — and all of our lives along with it.
Imagine the world five years from now, filled with driverless cars at your service as needed. What’s the biggest change we’ll see?
For one thing, they will start saving an astonishing 300,000 American lives every decade!
- The auto insurance industry will be transformed or else wither and die as 90 percent of traffic accidents go away. Don’t forget, driverless vehicle software won’t get drunk, fall asleep at the wheel, or violate speed laws. And guess what — you’ll be able to legally text while driving!
Read more of the original article in Forbes.
