An “influx” of driverless cars might mean babies born this year will never have to endure the good old driving test, according to a top car insurer.
Theory and practical tests could be done away with as soon as 2032, as self-driving vehicles are expected to revolutionise the way we travel, rendering today’s driving test unnecessary.
Amanda Blanc, boss of insurance company Axa UK, told The Telegraph: “Babies born today may never have to take a driving test.”
But she warned that insurance firms would need to adapt to the new technology, by finding ways to account for car accidents of the future, when humans will be chauffeured around by computers.
However, Blanc predicted that fewer collisions should take place with autonomous cars which – good news – will mean cheaper insurance rates.
Driverless cars have come under scrutiny in recent years, due to a series of accidents both fatal and minor.
Last June, 40-year-old Joshua Brown’s Tesla collided with an 18-wheel lorry on a Florida highway, resulting in his death. The Model S car was switched to autopilot and was reportedly driving rapidly.
In September 2016, an autonomous Google Lexus drove through a red light, triggering its airbags and colliding with a bus at a California crossroads. The car was towed away.
