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: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:38PM (1 child)
The article doesn't actually say that the safety driver was watching Hulu.
It says that someone was watching Hulu using the driver's Hulu account, and that they happened to stop watching shortly after the collision. It is entirely plausible that the person watching was not the driver, but perhaps was the driver's spouse or a friend?
Unfortunately the article does not actually link to the police report.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @10:54PM
And they were watching 'The Voice'. If it was her watching, I wonder who was singing at the time.
From the shocked look on the Uber video when the car hit the pedestrian, imagine she'd just had the double shock of some stupid 'coach' comment or some utterly shite robotic try-hard style singing immediately before the collision.
Her nightmares would be not just of the collision, but of whatever crap was on the Hulu. She'll forever fear using the Cyber!