A woman in her 40s who was the backup driver at the time was found guilty in connection with the 2018 accident in the United States where an Uber vehicle undergoing autonomous driving testing struck and killed a person.
The Maricopa County Prosecutor's Office in Arizona announced on the 28th (local time) that Rafaela Vasquez (49), who was charged with negligent homicide in the Uber vehicle traffic accident, was sentenced to three years of probation by the Maricopa Superior Court.
Vasquez was riding as a backup driver in the Uber vehicle testing autonomous driving when she struck and killed Elaine Herzberg, who was crossing the road on a bicycle. This accident was the first fatality caused by an autonomous vehicle. Investigations revealed that Vasquez was watching a singing competition program on her mobile phone at the time of the accident.
Following this incident, Uber withdrew its autonomous test vehicles from Arizona, and other companies also postponed their entry into ride-hailing services using autonomous driving technology.
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