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> but of course there are laws about insurance

In the U.S. at least, you don't need to insure your own car. You just need liability insurance that will pay out to someone else if you're at fault in an accident.

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It's usually possible "self-insure," too. Basically, you put up some amount of money (of order $30-50k) to the DMV as a surety bond. Then if you're held liable for an accident the state doesn't have to worry about you paying up because they already have the money.

$50k is comically insufficient to cover the damage you can do in a car in a single incident, though, and such a bond is a limp assurance at best.

I wonder if there should be a per-vehicle cap on damage where a vehicle is so expensive that the owner insures it for any damage over some amount, say $60,000, or the 95th percentile new car sale price.

Damage to vehicles isn’t the problem. The tail is hitting a car full of surgeons and ruining their careers so you are paying out gazillions in personal damage.

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