>That is, the cost of insurance for human drivers will be exceedingly high.
right now, in california, you are only required to carry on the order of $35,000 in liability insurance.
Now, personally, I think this is completely crazy, that it defeats the whole point of liability laws, etc, etc, but the point is that unless you change that, even if the rates go way up for human drivers, if the insurance companies can continue to sell plans that are limited to only $35K in liability, people who don't fear bankruptcy will still very likely be able to buy that legally-minimal insurance for not all that much money.
Yeah, I've heard that before. It's crazy to me. The most basic insurance in EU is required to cover up to 5 million euro against damages to people and 3 million against damage to property. How US can only require $35k liability cover is beyond me. Does that not mean that in pretty much any accident you have to pay extra out of your own pocket?
(that "basic" insurance costs me $150 for the whole year and allows me to drive anywhere within EU for unlimited period of time. I also have full comprehensive cover for which I pay another $500 for a full year that insures me against damages to my own vehicle and provides EU-wide breakdown cover).
>How US can only require $35k liability cover is beyond me. Does that not mean that in pretty much any accident you have to pay extra out of your own pocket?
Generally speaking, only poor people carry the minimum liability insurance. Everyone else carries limits closer to yours, at least for damage to people; I mean, doing 3 million in damage to a human, I can see that. Doing that much damage to property would be... completely destroying a really nice house, which is unlikely. Also, by American standards, your rates look unrealistically low. maybe you could get something close to your level of liability coverage for that much every month.
But... uh, yeah, this brings up another point (and why I don't know how much just a few million in liability would cost) - everyone who isn't poor here carries what's called "uninsured motorist" coverage... this is essentially insurance that covers damage to me if someone with minimum coverage is at fault and I get hurt and they can't pay.
Australia has a mandatory level of insurance called Compulsory Third-Party insurance or CTP. It is required by law for all registered motor vehicles in all states and typically covers in the order of $20m or so of third-party medical expenses and/or compensation related to an injury sustained in an accident. Property damage is not covered.
As for relative price typically one would be looking at around $300-600 per year, depending on age, driving history, type of car etc. Granted with our universal health care I suspect that our average out-of-pocket medical expenses for injuries from car accidents are lower than the US.
right now, in california, you are only required to carry on the order of $35,000 in liability insurance.
Now, personally, I think this is completely crazy, that it defeats the whole point of liability laws, etc, etc, but the point is that unless you change that, even if the rates go way up for human drivers, if the insurance companies can continue to sell plans that are limited to only $35K in liability, people who don't fear bankruptcy will still very likely be able to buy that legally-minimal insurance for not all that much money.