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Search resuls for: "Rafaela Vasquez"


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A woman behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber that hit a pedestrian has been in legal limbo ever since. The operator faced negligent homicide charges after a 2018 crash killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. A guilty plea entered Friday offered an answer to the once-hypothetical ethics question of who is responsible when a self-driving car kills a pedestrian. Rafaela Vasquez, who was behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber SUV that struck and killed a pedestrian in March of 2018, pleaded guilty to endangerment related to the case, avoiding prison time. The victim, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, was the first known pedestrian fatality related to a fully autonomous vehicle crash.
Persons: Uber, Elaine Herzberg, Rafaela Vasquez, AP Vasquez, Joshua Brown of, carmakers Organizations: Morning, National Transportation, AP, New York Times, Tempe Police, of Transportation Locations: Maricopa County, Tempe , Arizona, Joshua Brown of Canton , Ohio
Rafaela Vasquez was watching television on her smartphone in March 2018 when the Uber self-driving vehicle fatally struck Elaine Herzberg, 49, who was crossing a road in Tempe, Arizona, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. The Uber-employed safety driver behind the wheel of the car was meant to monitor the car’s performance and intervene if the autonomous driving software failed, as previously reported by CNN. But the National Transportation Safety Board’s 2019 investigation found that Vasquez was looking away from the road for over a third of the trip. The board concluded that the crash was “avoidable” if the safety driver had been alert and also found that an inadequate safety culture at Uber contributed to the crash. The company’s self-driving software wasn’t designed to expect that pedestrians outside crosswalks may be crossing the street, according to the investigation.
Persons: Rafaela Vasquez, Elaine Herzberg, Vasquez, Uber, Rachel Mitchell, , ” Mitchell, Motional, Albert Jaynes Morrison Organizations: CNN, National Transportation Safety Board, Transportation Safety Locations: Tempe , Arizona, Superior, Maricopa, Maricopa County
Companies Uber Technologies Inc FollowJuly 28 (Reuters) - The backup safety driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber Technologies (UBER.N) test vehicle that struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018 pleaded guilty on Friday and was sentenced to probation, prosecutors said. The first recorded death involving a self-driving vehicle prompted significant safety concerns about the nascent autonomous vehicle industry. Police said previously the crash was "entirely avoidable" and that Vasquez was streaming "The Voice" TV program at the time of the crash. In 2019, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) faulted Vasquez's inactions and Uber for inadequate attention to safety and decisions in the company's autonomous vehicle development. In 2020, Uber announced the sale of its autonomous driving unit to self-driving car startup Aurora for $4 billion.
Persons: Rafaela Vasquez, Uber, Vasquez, Elaine Herzberg, Rachel Mitchell, Vasquez's inactions, Herzberg, David Shepardson, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang Organizations: Uber Technologies, Technologies, Prosecutors, Police, National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, Volvo, Aurora, Thomson Locations: Tempe , Arizona, Maricopa County, Tempe
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