The cyclists have a point, but in a roundabout way: Why should the owner of an automatic car be liable for *any* expense that was not directly of their own doing? Sure they should have insurance for many aspects, but in the event of the self-driving software being at fault to any degree the car company should pick up the whole bill.
Sadly I see moving the costs to the public, via the insurer's premiums, will not result in enough pressure on the software development to deliver something safe and reliable.
I mean look at Google going for this given they never provide anything but 'beta' software, and never guarantee anything in the way of functionality, safety or security.