Driverless killer Uber was speeding
... and the ‘backup driver’ was an armed robber convicted as a man but who identifies as a woman
AN UBER car which became the first driverless vehicle to kill a pedestrian was speeding at the time of the collision.
and it was being supervised by a backup driver who had previously faced court for a traffic offence, it was revealed.
Safety driver, Rafaela Vasquez, could face charges over the death of pedestrian Elaine Herzberg, police said yesterday. Miss Vasquez had been jailed previously for attempted armed robbery and just last year she was brought to court for running a red light. last night police released a mugshot of Miss Vasquez taken after she was jailed in 2000, when she identified as male.
It is understood drivers for the test cars have the same background checks as regular taxi drivers – which include not having more than three minor driving offences and one major one within the past three years. Miss Vasquez had passed these checks.
The Volvo XC90 SUV was travelling at 38mph in a 35mph zone when the crash happened in Tempe, arizona early on Monday – despite being controlled by its onboard computer, police said. Sylvia Moir, the city’s police chief, said: ‘I won’t rule out the potential to file charges against the [backup driver] in the Uber vehicle.’
The officer said Miss Vasquez, 44, had made no attempt to brake. However, due to the fact Miss Herzberg, 49, appeared to emerge from the shadows of a central reservation into the road, Chief Moir said she did not think the car, which was in driverless mode, was to blame.
Miss Vasquez told police that Miss Herzberg walked out in front of her like a ‘flash’ while pushing her bicycle and that her ‘first alert to the collision was the sound of the collision’. The death was the first time a pedestrian has been killed by a self-driving car and puts police and prosecutors in uncharted legal waters.
The grey Volvo was fitted with two video cameras, one facing the street and one on the driver. Chief Moir said that from viewing the videos ‘it’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode, autonomous or human-driven’.
Uber has suspended all tests of self-driving cars while it investigates and tech experts have called for other companies to follow suit. Toyota Motor Corp last night announced it too will pause autonomous vehicle testing following the incident.
Miss Vasquez’s convictions were reported by a local news website and public records confirmed her criminal past.
In 1999 she admitted making a false statement to obtain benefits, according to court papers.
The following year she was jailed in an armed robbery case after admitting a reduced charge.
Official records show Miss Vasquez served three years and ten months in prison for attempted armed robbery and unsworn falsification.
In May last year she was caught by police failing to stop at a red light. However, the case was dismissed, possibly after she took a driving awareness course.
Uber said: ‘We are fully cooperating with authorities and investigations’. The company declined to comment on why Miss Vasquez was in one of its driverless cars given her past convictions or why the SUV was speeding.
Miss Herzberg was a mother-of-two who appeared to have been homeless and living in a camp near where she was killed. She had a number of drug convictions.