PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� An Arizona Uber driver involved in the first death connected to a fully autonomous vehicle will be tried in June on a negligent homicide charge.
Rafaela Vasquez, 49, previously had been scheduled for trial next month in the March 2018 crash that killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she walked a bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk in Tempe, Arizona. Vasquez's trial was rescheduled during a brief hearing Tuesday.
Vasquez, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge, told police Herzberg 鈥渃ame out of nowhere鈥� and that she didn鈥檛 see her prior to the collision.
Authorities say Vasquez was streaming the television show 鈥淭he Voice鈥� on a phone and looking downward in the moments before Uber鈥檚 Volvo XC-90 SUV collided with Herzberg. But Vasquez鈥檚 attorneys said their client was looking at a messaging activity used by Uber employees on a work cellphone that sat on her right knee. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� was playing on Vasquez鈥檚 personal cellphone, which was sitting on the passenger seat, they said.
Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against Uber in Herzberg鈥檚 death after the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the main cause of the crash was Vasquez鈥檚 failure to monitor the road.
The crash in Arizona wasn鈥檛 the first involving an Uber autonomous test vehicle. In March 2017, an Uber SUV flipped onto its side, also in Tempe. No serious injuries were reported, and the driver of the other car was cited for a violation. Herzberg鈥檚 trial will be held in Phoenix.
Herzberg鈥檚 death was the first involving an autonomous test vehicle but not the first in a car with some self-driving features. The driver of a Tesla Model S was killed in 2016 when his car, operating on its autopilot system, crashed into a tractor-trailer in Florida.
The Associated Press
