Four years ago, an uber test vehicle that was supposedly self driving crashed into elaine hersburg as she was crossing the road. It gave her the designation of being the first pedestrian ever killed by a supposedly self driving vehicle. The case is still not over. Raphael vascez has now been charged with a crime, and uber doesn't seem to be being charged with anything at all. But it's still working its way through the justice system in arizona.
Paris Marx is joined by Lauren Smiley to discuss what we’ve learned about the Uber crash since in happened in March 2018, what that’s meant for the vehicle operator who’s been charged, and whether the justice system made the right call in blaming her instead of Uber.
Lauren Smiley is a WIRED contributor and freelance journalist based in San Francisco. Follow Laren on Twitter at @laurensmiley.
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Also mentioned in this episode:
- Lauren interviewed Rafaela Vasquez and dug into the substance of the past four years of information on the Uber crash for WIRED.
- Last summer, Vasquez’ legal team argued the grand jury hadn’t heard to full version of events before indicting her.
- In 2019, the NTSB’s final report placed primary blame on the operator, but secondary blame on Uber, the pedestrian, and the state.
- In 2015, Lauren wrote about the “shut-in economy” and social divides being entrenched by on-demand services.
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