Self Driving Car Insurance • Hacker News Board

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#51

Post by rubyfan » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 7:20 PM UTC

kjksf wrote: post #35

jasoncartwright wrote: post #5

If it autonomous or self-driving then why is the person in the car paying for the insurance? Surely if it's Tesla making the decisions, they need the insurance?

Because that's the law of the land currently. The product you buy is called "FSD Supervised". It clearly states you're liable and must supervise the system. I don't think there's law that would allow Tesla (or anyone else) to sell a passenger car with unsupervised system. If you take Waymo or Tesla Robotaxi in Austin, you are not liable for accidents, Google or Tesla is. That's because they operate on limited state l…

Waymo is also a livery service which you normally aren’t liable for as a passenger of taxi or limousine unless you have deep pockets. /IANAL

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#52

Post by rubyfan » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 7:23 PM UTC

thelastgallon wrote: post #46

jasoncartwright wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like it's neither self-driving, nor autonomous, if I'm on the hook if it goes wrong.

Its neither self-driving, nor autonomous, eventually not even a car! (as Tesla slowly exits the car business). It will be 'insurance' on Speculation as a service, as Tesla skyrockets to $20T market cap. Tesla will successfully transition from a small revenue to pre-revenue company: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJdKW-UnFQ The last few years of Tesla 'growth' show how this transition is unfolding. S and X productio…

I wonder if they will try to sell off the car business once they can hype up something else. It seems odd to just let the car business die.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#53

Post by drnick1 » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 7:50 PM UTC

> automatically tracking FSD miles versus manual miles through direct Tesla integration.

No thanks. I unplugged the cellular modem in my car precisely because I can't stand the idea that the manufacturer/dealer/insurance company or other unauthorized third parties could have access to my location and driving habits.

I also generally avoid dealers like the plague and only trust the kind of shops where the guy who answers the phone is the guy doing the work.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#54

Post by giobox » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 7:51 PM UTC

t1234s wrote: post #41

jerlam wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems the answer is yes. From their web site: > Fair prices, based on how you drive [...] Get a discount, and earn a lower premium as you drive better.

Bummer.. its super fun to floor them off the line.

This (instant torque) is exciting for about the first week of electric car ownership, it gets old very fast. I have far more fun driving my much slower gas-engined cars.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#55

Post by hamdingers » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 7:59 PM UTC

The whole point of self-driving cars (to me) is I don't have to own or insure it, someone else deals with that and I just make it show up with my phone when I need it.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#56

Post by FlyingBears » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 8:00 PM UTC

Lemonade purchased Metromile and significantly increased prices. 2.5x if I recall correctly. This has forced me to move to Geico. Now, since prices have increased and new self driving car insurance is giving a discount, are you effectively paying same old rate?

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#57

Post by aanet » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 8:00 PM UTC

It would be interesting to see if Lemonade requires a Driver Monitoring System (DMS) to see if the driver/operator is actually paying attention (or, like sleeping / watching Netflix / whatever) while at the driver's seat.

Anybody know??

Tesla FSD is still a supervised system (= ADAS), afaik.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#58

Post by dzhiurgis » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 8:03 PM UTC

giobox wrote: post #54

t1234s wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bummer.. its super fun to floor them off the line.

This (instant torque) is exciting for about the first week of electric car ownership, it gets old very fast. I have far more fun driving my much slower gas-engined cars.

It doesn't get old. What a ludicrous statement.

I did get lots of traction issues with FWD EV, any sort of wet - you need to baby it.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#59

Post by darkwater » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 8:04 PM UTC

giobox wrote: post #54

t1234s wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bummer.. its super fun to floor them off the line.

This (instant torque) is exciting for about the first week of electric car ownership, it gets old very fast. I have far more fun driving my much slower gas-engined cars.

Speak for yourself. Over 3 years and 100k km and still enjoying it.

Re: Self Driving Car Insurance

#60

Post by dzhiurgis » Fri, Jan 30, 2026, 8:05 PM UTC

fred_is_fred wrote: post #20

throw20251220 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So does AEB in any modern car.

Tesla fans have not realized that every car made since 2021ish can do this.

AEB has been around since ages. Even my 2010 Mazda had it. It's nowhere near Tesla's capabilities tho. Not sure what are you trying to achieve with such dunks?