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Uber Driver Was Streaming Hulu Just Before Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash, Says Police (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the distracted-driving dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Tempe, Arizona, police have released a massive report on the fatal Uber vehicle crash that killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in March. The report provides more evidence that driver Rafaela Vasquez was distracted in the seconds before the crash. "This crash would not have occurred if Vasquez would have been monitoring the vehicle and roadway conditions and was not distracted,'' the report concludes. Police obtained records from Hulu suggesting that Vasquez was watching "The Voice," a singing talent competition that airs on NBC, just before the crash. Hulu's records showed she began watching the program at 9:16pm. Streaming of the show ended at 9:59pm, which "coincides with the approximate time of the collision," according to the police report.

3 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Is it inconceivable that they were just listeni by tbuddy · · Score: 4, Informative
    I'd say the video footage of them driving and spending maybe 10% of the time looking not down at the their phone would be somewhat proof.

    “This crash would not have occurred if Vasquez would have been monitoring the vehicle and the roadway conditions and was not distracted,” investigators wrote. Police said Vasquez “was distracted and looking down” for 31 percent of the nearly 22 minutes before the crash, including 5.2 of the last 5.7 seconds.

  2. Re: I remember a lot of people defending Uber by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have a friend who's a school bus driver. Using a cellphone while behind the wheel (even when parked) is a first-time termination offense. And remember, there is sound and video recording in school buses.

  3. Re:They still should have had 2 people by suutar · · Score: 4, Informative

    As I recall, the vehicle had code that could stop automatically, but it was disabled. It also had code to warn the driver, but it was also disabled. Whoever decided that having both disabled should not be a fatal error should be fired, because if the driver knows the car can handle or warn, and expects the car to handle or warn, and is wrong, you get situations like this.