Recently, the Casualty Actuarial Society’s Automated Vehicles Task Force (CAS AVTF) published a research report on its website: “Automated Vehicles and the Insurance Industry: A Pathway to Safety: The Case for Collaboration.” The overarching theme of the report is that the insurance and risk management industries, and actuaries in particular, have a critical role to play in responsibly and cost-effectively bringing new technologies such as AV to market.

The report also argues that it is imperative for the various parties and stakeholders—manufacturers, technologists, policymakers, attorneys, risk managers, insurers, and actuaries—to cooperate during the development and rollout of AV technology.

In its three sections, the report describes CAS AVTF research in three areas:

1) The potential impact on insurance premiums of the evolution and emergence of AV technology. Quantifying this impact ultimately depends upon collaboratively defining, collecting, and analyzing data related to AV safety and performance.

2) Alternative liability systems for an AV world—in particular, a negligence-based liability system versus a strict products-liability-type system.

3) Establishing appropriate performance benchmarks and safety standards by which to evaluate and optimize the rollout of AV technologies.