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Uber Won’t Face Criminal Charges For Death in 2018 Self-Driving Car Crash

The Attorney's Office has issued a conclusion in the investigation of the 2018 fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona, when an Uber car that was part of its local autonomous program hit and killed a jaywalker.
Driverless Volvo XC90 from Uber at the scene of the fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona 44 photos
Photo: abc15.com
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It holds Uber not criminally liable for the woman’s death, National Public Radio reports. However, the publication notes, the case could still land Uber in hot water in civil court, while experts stress that the announcement doesn’t mean that the company doesn’t owe the public an explanation for what happened.

After a very thorough review of all the evidence presented, this Office has determined that there is no basis for criminal liability for the Uber corporation arising from this matter,” the Yavapai County Attorney's Office writes in a letter to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

The crash occurred at nighttime, when Elaine Harzberg crossed the street at an unmarked spot. She was pushing a bicycle and the human operator of the self-driven car was, at the time, engaged in streaming The Voice on her cell phone. The impact happened at about 44 mph but was severe enough to cause life-threatening injuries.

Uber has reached a settlement with the Harzberg family out of court, but it was still being investigated for its part in the crash, since they had hired the driver. The “human operator” of the Volvo XC90, Rafaela Vasquez (at the time, Rafael), had a criminal history and was clearly not paying attention to the road.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigation revealed that, at the time of the crash, Vasquez had been looking at the phone screen for a very long time and that she hit the brakes only after impact. She swerved less than a second before hitting the victim, when she accidentally looked up from her phone screen.

The decision not to hold Uber criminally liable doesn’t exonerate them from all guilt, Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor, tells the same publication. They owe the public a proper explanation for what went wrong, as well as some sort of guarantee it won’t happen again, he believes.

“It's not necessarily exculpatory – it doesn't exonerate Uber or put the company's conduct then or now beyond criticism. And I'm not sure it tells us much about the criminal, much less civil, liability of automated driving developers in future incidents,” Smith says. “And I would still like to see Uber publicly apologize and explain what specifically went wrong. Companies should earn our trust in part by being candid about their failures as well as their successes.”
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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