Suit filed over Uber death
Tempe and the state were hit with a lawsuit Monday over alleged negligence in the death of a pedestrian hit by a self-driving Uber vehicle a year ago.
The state and city of Tempe were hit with a lawsuit Monday over their alleged negligence in the fatal crash between a self-driving Uber and a pedestrian a year ago.
The civil suit on behalf of the victim’s adult daughter and husband, Christine Wood and Rolf Erich Ziemann, was filed in Superior Court in Phoenix, and claims the state and Tempe created unsafe conditions that contributed to Elaine Herzberg’s death.
On March 18, 2018, Herzberg, 49, was killed when she was struck by an autonomously operating Volvo owned by Uber, which had disabled the vehicles’ emergency-braking to smooth the ride.
Lawyers representing Wood and Ziemann in September sent notices to the state and Tempe stating that the claims could be settled for $10 million from each of the government bodies. The lawsuit filed on the one-year anniversary of the fatality is seeking damages in an amount to be determined by a jury.
“The state of Arizona allowed Uber Technologies Inc. and others to conduct experiments with driverless automobile technology on Arizona roadways and on Arizona citizens, including Elaine Herzberg,” the complaint said.
“This lawsuit does not challenge those decisions. Instead, this lawsuit challenges what plaintiffs and their counsel believe is the careless and imprudent manner in which state transportation authorities allowed this experimental technology to be used on Arizona roadways and citizens.”
The lawsuit quotes Albert Einstein, Henry David Thoreau, Steven Spielberg and others in the preamble regarding the dangers of technology. It was filed by The Leader Law Firm of
Tucson with Skousen, Gulbrandsen and Patience of Mesa as co-counsel.
The lawsuit says it is unclear if either the state departments of Transportation or Public Safety took any steps to review driverless car technology, policies, driver background checks or other information to ensure it did not present a danger to the public.
“The state and city have failed to make roadways safe, allowing autonomous vehicles to operate on public roadways in an unsafe manner,” the complaint said. “The state negligently conducted or performed oversight over this program.”
The complaint references an executive order from Gov. Doug Ducey in 2015 allowing self-driving tests and another last year allowing unmanned self-driving tests for companies that register with the state, which came out just weeks before the fatal accident.
“Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive order was negligently implemented without sufficient investigation into the safety of Uber Technologies Inc.’s autonomous vehicles,” the complaint states.
While a notice of claim filed in September named Ducey as a responsible party, the actual claim filed Monday does not, naming only the state and city.
Ducey’s office declined to comment.
“The state and city have failed to make roadways safe, allowing autonomous vehicles to operate on public roadways in an unsafe manner. The state negligently conducted or performed oversight over this program.” From a complaint filed against the city of Tempe and the state of Arizona
Tempe median singled out
One count in the lawsuit singles out the city of Tempe for its “negligently designed median” near the crash on Mill Avenue south of Curry Road.
The city previously had a brick pathway in the shape of an “x” in the landscaped median, which was torn out last fall around the time the claim was filed against the city.
The brick pathway appeared to encourage pedestrians to jaywalk across Mill Avenue midblock rather than at the crosswalk at the intersection with Curry nearby, the lawsuit states.
“Defendant city of Tempe was on notice that pedestrians were using these walkways to cross Mill Avenue because it posted a sign directing people not to do so,” the lawsuit says.
A Tempe official declined to comment.
Several other legal actions
Last year, one law firm announced it settled with Uber regarding claims from Wood and Ziemann, while another said it was representing Herzberg’s parents and son, and had not settled.
Uber declined to comment on any settlements Tuesday.
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk was given the case to consider criminal charges against Uber and the driver, Rafaela Vasquez.
Uber disabled emergency braking on the test vehicle, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report, and Vasquez was watching video on her phone instead of watching the road, according to Tempe police.
Polk determined no charges against Uber were warranted and sent the case back to Maricopa County to consider vehicular manslaughter charges for Vasquez.
Maricopa County had passed the case to Polk because of a possible conflict of interest stemming from a previous partnership with Uber for a safedriving campaign.
Montgomery’s office said it will seek further investigation.
“As we work on reviewing the case, prosecutors will follow the Yavapai County Attorney’s recommendation that the matter be furthered to the Tempe Police Department to permit necessary expert analysis of video evidence,” the office said in a prepared statement.