Driver was streaming The Voice when Uber self-driving car crashed, say police

The Guardian UK ^ | June 22 2018 | None Listed

[texas booster]

The “safety” driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber that hit and killed a pedestrian was streaming the television show The Voice on her phone at the time of the crash, police have said.

The collision that killed Elaine Herzberg, 49, who was crossing the road at night in Tempe, Arizona, was “entirely avoidable”, a police report said, if Rafaela Vasquez had been paying attention.

Instead, she repeatedly looked down at her phone, glancing up just half a second before the car hit Herzberg. Police said she could faces charges of vehicular manslaughter, but it would be for prosecutors to decide.

The Uber car was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash, but Uber, like other self-driving car developers, requires a back-up driver in the car to intervene when the autonomous system fails or a tricky driving situation occurs. Sign up for Guardian Today US edition: the day's must-reads sent directly to you Read more

Vasquez looked up just 0.5 seconds before the crash, after keeping her head down for 5.3 seconds, the police report said. Uber’s self-driving Volvo SUV was travelling at just under 44mph.

Police obtained records from Hulu, an online streaming service, which showed Vasquez’s account was playing the television talent show The Voice the night of the crash for about 42 minutes, ending at 9.59pm, which “coincides with the approximate time of the collision”, the report says.

[texas booster]

Uber declined to comment on the police report. The company prohibits the use of any mobile device by safety drivers while the self-driving cars are on a public road, and drivers are told they can be fired for violating this rule.

...The report found that Vasquez “was distracted and looking down” for close to seven of the nearly 22 minutes prior to the collision.

... Vasquez told federal investigators she had been monitoring the self-driving interface in the car and that neither her personal nor business phones were in use until after the crash.

That report showed Uber had disabled the emergency braking system in the Volvo, and Vasquez began braking less than a second after hitting Herzberg.

Herzberg, who was homeless, was walking her bicycle across the street, outside a crossing on a four-lane road, on the night of 18 March when she was struck by the front right side of the Volvo.

The police report faulted Herzberg for “unlawfully crossing the road at a location other than a marked crosswalk”.

[texas booster]

As we were taught early on, a Stop sign does not make a car stop.

The driver makes the car stop.

Only if they are paying attention.

Wonder if the deceased has any relatives that will cash in on her death?

[gr8eman]

There are so many levels of stupidity in this article it should get a Darwin award for literature!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

So you’re supposed to continue driving the car while it is driving itself?

Then what’s the point?

[Dr. Sivana]

And here I thought she was just listening to the Moody Blues.

[Moonman62]

Wonder if the deceased has any relatives that will cash in on her death?

...

I think they’ve already settled with Uber.

[11th_VA]

[DannyTN]

[Red Badger]

The pedestrian was jaywalking.......................

[bigbob]

1. Change the laws as needed so the back-up driver is as liable as if he/she was driving the car if it can be proven they were not paying attention like this.

2. Audit phones on a daily basis. Zero Tolerance.

[DJ Frisat]

I love technology, and think it has a place in modern transportation systems of all kinds.

But not as the principle operator. I don’t have any faith in self-driving automobiles, especially when they’re mixed in with unpredictable human drivers.

Your mileage may vary...

[jiggyboy]

It’s the same story every time new safety technology is introduced. Accidents went down for a while when anti-lock brakes became common. Then after a year or so people let their guard down, maybe dicked around with the radio a little longer, maybe drove a little faster, because they started to assume that the anti-lock brakes would save them from themselves.

Now we’re all part of a nationwide beta test of self-driving cars.

[jiggyboy]

Ok, but the magic car we’re all supposed to surrender our autonomy to is supposed to fix all that.

[vette6387]

“The pedestrian was jaywalking.......................”

So we are justified in killing her?

[texas booster]

Having a self driving car that requires one to continually control the car does seem like a poor version of self driving.

I suspect that we will have this new technology in all of our cars as soon as the insurance companies permit it, and after the lawyers figure who will sue and settle.

[11th_VA]

Having a self driving car that requires one to continually control the car does seem like a poor version of self driving.

You won't believe how many people it takes to fly an unmanned vehicle ... just sayin ...

[Red Badger]

IIRC, the pedestrian, a homeless person, suddenly came out of some bushes, in the middle of a busy highway, at night far from a crosswalk.....................

[a fool in paradise]

Some automated cars don’t even give you a steering wheel or brakes. Humans can’t be trusted but they can be blamed.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Being expected to second-guess a self-driving vehicle is a recipe for boredom and inattention.

The car either drives itself, or it doesn’t.

Hybrid doesn’t work. Human beings are human and will be distracted when doing something boring no matter how many laws you pass.

[RedStateRocker]

I’m supposed to care about someone walking in front of a car at night, no crosswalk?

I want more self driving cars, fewer idiots. I’d be happy if we passed statutes relieving the drivers and manufacturers of any criminal or civil liability for injuries to anyone NOT obeying the law.

Darwin bats last.