How Will Autonomous Cars Affect the Insurance Claims Process?

By Ben Sessions on November 26th, 2016 in Car / Auto Accident

WHY IS AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION SO IMPORTANT? THEY MAY BE THE ONLY EVIDENCE AVAILABLE TO COUNTER AN ARGUMENT THAT YOU CAUSED A CAR ACCIDENT.

This vehicle was evaluated in connection with 2 separate impacts. Without an accident reconstruction, we would not have been able to show that a secondary impact and driver was also likely at-fault for the wreck.

Many client ask us “why is an accident reconstruction

Whether we believe it or not, self-driving cars are in our near future, and the rate of innovation in this sector appears to be increasing. With the implementation of self-driving cars and commercial carriers, many insurers are wondering how will autonomous cars affect the insurance claims process? The implementation of autonomous vehicles will dramatically impact how insurers handle claims and how they assess the risks posed by their insureds.

FAULT DETERMINATIONS WILL CHANGE WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.

Georgia, unlike some of states in the U.S., is a fault state. In Georgia, we determine financial liability for a car accident based upon fault for the accident. Therefore, the determination of how we assess fault in an accident with an autonomous car is an important (indeed, crucial) determination. Fault is a concern for many drivers and insurance companies. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is currently looking to formulate a set of international standards for collecting certain data, should an accident occur. The following data would be calculated 30 seconds prior to crash until 15 seconds afterwards:

a GPS record of the time and location of the incident confirmation of whether the vehicle was in autonomous or manual mode
if in autonomous mode,
whether the vehicle was parking or driving when the vehicle went into autonomous mode,
and when the driver last interacted with the system any driver activity such as braking or steering whether the driver’s seat was occupied, and whether the seat belt was fastened.

This information will be helpful in determining not only whether fault lies with the manufacturer or the driver, but also helps expedite the insurance claim process. Insurers would be likely to gather monies from manufacturers in a timely manner, as well as insure that consumers continue to receive low insurance premiums and safely made vehicles. The ABI hopes to get a system in place so that there can be a universal collection of data that protects drivers from unnecessary blame and to remedy the issues that many people are having with the new technology of automated vehicles being on the road.

so important?” for their car accident case. That is a completely reasonable question because accident reconstructions can be expensive, and the cost of an accident reconstruction is paid from the recovery or settlement that we obtain for clients. So, it is important that clients understand why the services of an accident reconstructionist can be vital to our successful recovery for you.

An accident reconstruction offers us an opportunity to present objective, third-party evidence as to how the accident occurred and who was at fault for the wreck. That is extremely important. Many jurors come into cases expecting scientific evidence, and if scientific evidence is available that might help the jury understand how and why a car crash occurred, jurors want that evidence and they may penalize a party for failing to bring forward that evidence.

This is an example of a graphical illustration of a time-distance analysis performed by Shelly Weed, an accident reconstructionist that we frequently consult.

An accident reconstructionist is an expert who will (hopefully) have impeccable qualifications. That person should be beyond reproach. That person should simply be explaining complex topics and ideas to jurors and helping the jurors call “balls and strikes” over the cause of an accident, and they can be the difference between you recovering for the recklessness of someone else.

When we are retained to represent client’s in car wreck cases, one of the first steps that we take is to determine if the services of an accident reconstructionist are potentially helpful. When they appear to be helpful, our car accident lawyers will retain an accident reconstruction expert to perform an evaluation of the roadside evidence and the vehicles involved in the accident.

If you have a question regarding a car accident case, a car accident lawyer at The Sessions Law Firm would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.