Safety, trust, and liability: The foundations of autonomous mobility

Regardless of the approaches being adopted in China, Europe or the US, the case for autonomous mobility begins with safety. Human error — fatigue, distraction and misjudgment — is still a leading cause behind road accidents. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to significantly reduce these risks. However, the journey to widespread adoption depends on more than just technological advancements. Public trust and clear liability frameworks are equally critical to the success of autonomous mobility

Safety is the promise

Automation offers the potential to make roads safer by eliminating common human errors. Allianz’s latest research reinforces this point: Analysis by the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT) shows that automation could significantly lower accidents linked to human factors such as distraction, fatigue, and misjudgment.

However, the safety gains are not uniform. They depend on how widely the technology is deployed and under what conditions. For example, autonomous systems may perform well on highways but face greater challenges in dense urban environments. This variability underscores the importance of rigorous testing and deployment strategies tailored to specific contexts.

However, the safety gains are not uniform. They depend on how widely the technology is deployed and under what conditions. For example, autonomous systems may perform well on highways but face greater challenges in dense urban environments. This variability underscores the importance of rigorous testing and deployment strategies tailored to specific contexts.

While safety is the foundation of autonomous mobility, trust is the condition that will determine whether people embrace it. “It is not enough for autonomous vehicles to be safe; people also need to understand why they are safe,” says Stefan Sellschopp, an autonomous vehicle expert at Allianz Partners.

The comparison between autonomous systems and human drivers is often framed in simple terms — for example, AVs being “ten times safer” than humans. But the reality is more nuanced. A system that performs well on a motorway may behave differently in a dense city center. Trust must be built condition by condition, context by context.

Building trust also requires transparency. People need to know how autonomous systems make decisions, handle unexpected situations, and manage risks. Without this understanding, even the safest systems may struggle to gain public acceptance.

This is where insurers occupy a position that no other actor in the autonomous vehicle ecosystem quite matches. Allianz is working with an ever-growing number of leading autonomous mobility companies to compare decades of accident data from conventional driving with emerging incident data from autonomous systems.

“We can compare historical accident data from conventional driving with incident data from autonomous driving and ask much more precise questions about where, when and under what conditions risk actually occurs,” says Sellschopp.

This data-based approach helps move the debate beyond abstract claims about safety toward a more granular understanding of risk. Liability is equally central. As vehicles take on more of the driving task, responsibility shifts — but it cannot become opaque.

As vehicles take on more of the driving task, the question of liability becomes increasingly important. Who is responsible when something goes wrong? The operator? The software developer? The manufacturer? Allianz’s position is clear: “Our view is that the person or entity putting the vehicle on the road should remain strictly liable,” Sellschopp says. “The injured person should not have to work out whether the fault lies with the operator, the software provider or the manufacturer — insurance should respond first, and only then should the chain of recourse be sorted out.” Clear rules, fast compensation and transparent responsibility are essential if autonomous mobility is to gain public acceptance.

To ensure that autonomous mobility in Europe is trusted, safe and aligned with societal needs, Allianz has been advocating for a “driving license” for autonomous systems, which would establish necessary safety standards across the EU. “Just as humans must prove they can drive safely, autonomous vehicles must prove that they can steer and navigate safely in all driving situations,” adds Sellschopp.

The race toward autonomous mobility is no longer about proving that the technology works. In many contexts, it already does. The real contest is about something harder: scaling that technology in a way that is safe, trusted and socially useful.

As Sellschopp explains it, “In the end, autonomous mobility will not be judged by how impressive the technology is — but by whether people trust it enough to use it.”

The future of autonomous mobility depends on collaboration between technology providers, regulators, insurers, and the public. Allianz is committed to playing its part in building a safer, more trusted, and more sustainable mobility ecosystem. To learn more about Allianz’s role in shaping the future of autonomous vehicles, visit our mobility page.