NAMIC Analysis: AV Development Races Ahead of Consumer Safety, Insurance Regulations

SAN DIEGO (Oct. 1, 2025) – Self-driving cars may promise a future with safer roads, but the fast-emerging technology is exposing dangerous gaps in America’s insurance and legal systems. A new issue analysis from the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Autonomous Vehicle Technology and the Insurance Impact, warns that AV technology development is outpacing the necessary regulations designed to protect drivers, consumers, and businesses.

“As artificial intelligence and automation require less and less human engagement behind the wheel, insurers face new questions about risk, liability, data ownership, and consumer protection,” said Brett Odom, policy vice president for auto and alternative vehicles for NAMIC. “Traditional underwriting has always been rooted in human driver behavior. With autonomous systems, the rules of the road are changing, and insurers must be prepared to adapt.”

The report examines:

• Data Ownership and Access: Autonomous vehicles generate massive amounts of data critical to accident investigations, yet no clear legal framework exists on who owns or can access it.
• Underwriting and Claims Challenges: Insurers must rethink long-standing practices, from evaluating risk to investigating liability when machines, not humans, are in control.
• Increasing Repair Costs: With repair costs already up 96 percent since 2009, the complexity of AV technology will drive costs higher and require new expertise from repair facilities and insurers alike.
• Regulatory Gaps: While 34 states have enacted some form of AV regulation, no uniform national framework exists to govern safety, liability, and consumer protections.

The paper explores both the opportunities and risks of AV technology. Advanced driver assistance systems are already reducing accidents, but a lack of public trust and fragmented regulation threaten to undermine progress. NAMIC urges proactive industry engagement with regulators, manufacturers, and consumers to build a balanced approach that ensures safety while fostering innovation.

“NAMIC members are committed to protecting policyholders and supporting safe innovation,” said Neil Alldredge, president and CEO of NAMIC. “This paper is part of our ongoing effort to help policymakers and industry leaders prepare for the road ahead.”

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NAMIC membership reflects many of the country’s largest national insurers as well as regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America. NAMIC members write $383 billion in annual premiums and account for 61 percent of homeowners, 48 percent of the automobile, and 25 percent of the business insurance markets.