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According to this article on MSN:
Police in Tempe, Arizona said evidence showed the "safety" driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber was distracted and streaming a television show on her phone right up until about the time of a fatal accident in March, deeming the crash that rocked the nascent industry "entirely avoidable."
A 318-page report from the Tempe Police Department, released late on Thursday in response to a public records request, said the driver, Rafaela Vasquez, repeatedly looked down and not at the road, glancing up just a half second before the car hit 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, who was crossing the street at night.
According to the report, Vasquez could face charges of vehicle manslaughter. Police said that, based on testing, the crash was "deemed entirely avoidable" if Vasquez had been paying attention.
Police obtained records from Hulu, an online service for streaming television shows and movies, which showed Vasquez's account was playing the television talent show "The Voice" the night of the crash for about 42 minutes, ending at 9:59 p.m., which "coincides with the approximate time of the collision," the report says.
It is not clear if Vasquez will be charged, and police submitted their findings to county prosecutors, who will make the determination.
(Score: 3, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 23 2018, @04:49PM
The whole point is - there is no such thing as a "self driving car". Not yet. Every thing that I have read, to date, stipulates that the "autopilot" or whatever may fail at any time, and that the driver should be ready to take over. And, in this particular case, the driver was hired as a "safety" backup.
You don't get to use alpha software in mission critical situations, yawn, and go to sleep, allowing that alpha software to run amuk. The purpose of that safety driver is to help "evolve" that software into a beta state, while at the same time, ensuring that the alpha didn't kill anyone.