Prosecutors have announced that Uber is not criminally liable for last year’s fatal crash of one of its self-driving cars, according to an article by Reuters.
A letter from the Yavapai County Attorney that was made public stated that there was “no basis for criminal liability” for Uber, but that the backup driver, Rafaela Vasquez, should be referred to the Tempe police for additional investigation, according to the Reuters article.
The crash involved a Volvo XC90 sport utility vehicle that Uber was using to test self-driving technology. Vasquez, the Uber backup driver, could face charges of vehicular manslaughter, according to a police report in June. According to police, Vasquez was looking down watching a streaming service until the time of the crash. The driver looked up a half-second before hitting Elaine Herzberg, 49, who died from her injuries, according to the Reuters article.