In milestone move, Allianz insures Singapore's first fully driverless bus

Other insurers remain cautious; experts raise questions about fault in an accident

- Kok Yufeng

The local arm of German insurer Allianz has made a foray into the autonomous vehicle (AV) space, providing insurance coverage for Singapore's first fully driverless bus operated by WeRide at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) integrated resort.

Allianz Insurance Singapore told The Straits Times that the policy, a first for the insurer, covers damage caused to the driverless bus, including the vehicle's cameras and sensors.

The policy also covers any compensation that WeRide, which is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, may need to pay for property damage, bodily injury or death caused by the self-driving bus, commonly referred to as third-party liability.

The move marks a milestone in what is a nascent area for the insurance sector, and it comes as the Government prepares to deploy autonomous public shuttles within housing estates to strengthen the public transport network.

All AVs in Singapore must be covered by third-party liability insurance before they can be used or tested on roads here.

This comes under a set of road traffic rules introduced in 2017 to better regulate AV trials, which also stipulate duties to notify the authorities of malfunctions or accidents, and to record key data like speed and camera footage for investigations.

What is different is that Allianz Insurance Singapore is insuring WeRide's AV service, which the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has approved to operate without any human safety personnel on board.

The eight-seater driverless bus, which plies a fixed 1.2km loop within RWS, is being monitored remotely.

Asked if such remote operations come with a higher risk, Allianz Insurance Singapore chief operating officer Ong Biying said the difference is "not that significant" in the insurer's view.