Until a smart insurance company comes around and wins away the other insurance companies' customers because the risk is 90% less and they can lower premiums substantially and still make a profit.

Actually I think this will kill insurance companies too. They will see their business fall inline with the cost of accidents.

I don't think that's necessarily true - insurance companies make money out of insuring far safer modes of transport than driving (like air travel). The liability merely shifts from the driver to the software developer. Whoever is providing the self-driving cars will need to have large amounts of indemnity insurance to cover potential losses.

The second part might be true, but human-driven cars are going to be on the road for a very long time. As long as they are here, accidents will happen, and insurance companies will find a way to charge you for it. Geico et al will never stop existing, so long as there is the possibility of human error.

Someone will have to sell insurance to car manufacturers for the remaining 10 percent of accidents.

People will still want and demand car insurance. Stuff still happens, and I want my car and injuries paid for. So they'll still be around. It may be a smaller industry, but it won't kill them.

> People will still want car insurance.

I wasn't aware they wanted it now. People buy it because they are legally obliged to.

I don't keep enough cash to go out and replace my daily driver, in kind, today. Even if it was someone else's fault and they're eventually required to remunerate me for the loss, that can take months.

People don't like the cost, but they like the benefits when they need it.

AppleCare still sells well without a legal obligation. People tend to be risk averse, and prefer to pay a little bit now to avoid paying a lot later.