The human operator of an Uber vehicle testing self-driving technology was watching a TV show on her cell phone when the car struck and killed a 49-year-old pedestrian earlier this year, according to Tempe, Ariz., police.
The driver, Rafaela Vasquez, did not look directly at the road until half a second before the nighttime collision in March, investigators found, noting that she had been watching NBC’s talent program “The Voice” on streaming service Hulu , investigators found.
According to video from the vehicle, Vasquez “appears to be looking down at the area near her right knee,” the report states. “Sometimes, her face appears to react and show a smirk or laugh at various points during the times that she is looking down. Her hands are not visible in the frame of the video during these times.”
[Watch: Police release video from self-driving Uber vehicle just before fatal crash in Arizona]
An Uber spokeswoman said the company has “a strict policy prohibiting mobile-device usage for anyone operating our self-driving vehicles” and is making changes to its test program that will be shared soon. Violating the rule is a fireable offense and is emphasized during training, the spokeswoman said.
The details from the accident may cause alarm at a time when businesses are accelerating efforts to commercialize the first fully autonomous vehicle despite several recent fatalities. It might also complicate Uber’s effort to persuade other cities to allows tests on their highways; the company shut down its program in Arizona after Gov. Doug Ducey suspended order a suspension of such trials.
A preliminary report on the incident by the National Transportation Safety Board found that autonomous-driving mode had been in use in the Tempe case for 19 minutes prior to the crash. Uber’s vehicle initially classified the pedestrian, who was walking a bicycle across the street, as “an unknown object.”
The computer in Uber’s self-driving car cannot launch any preemptive braking maneuver on its own, a feature that Uber says is to “reduce the potential for erratic vehicle behavior.” While Vasquez attempted to intervene less than a second before striking the pedestrian, the car did not begin braking until afterward.
While advocates say the technology has the potential to lower the 37,461 deaths a year on U.S. highways, industry experts called on companies to better explain the benefits of autonomous vehicles after recent accidents. The House earlier this year passed legislation that would launch an initial oversight framework for the emerging industry, while a Senate bill on the issue is stalled.
