Driver-less car victim's stepdaughter pushed for criminal charges

Tina Marie Herzberg White is the stepdaughter of Elaine Herzberg, the Arizona woman killed Sunday after she was hit by an Uber driver-less car
On Wednesday, White said she wanted to see criminal charges in the case
‘I can’t believe that the [driver] that was in the car did not see her,’ White said
Video emerged Wednesday showing the car’s safety monitor looking down at something right before Herzberg was hit
The safety monitor, Rafaela Vasquez, has not been charge with any crime

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:07 GMT, 22 March 2018 | Updated: 19:19 GMT, 22 March 2018

Uber driver-less car victim Elaine Herzberg’s (pictured) stepdaughter says she wants to see criminal charges in the case

A relative of the 49-year-old woman who was killed on Sunday after being hit by an Uber driver-less car says she wants to see criminal charges.

Tina Marie Herzberg White told The Guardian on Wednesday that her stepmother Elaine Herzberg’s death was ‘just awful’ and that ‘there should be a criminal case’.

She didn’t say whether she wanted Uber to be hit with criminal charges, or the woman who was monitoring the car from the driver’s seat, 44-year-old ex-felon Rafaela Vasquez. Though extremely rare, corporations can be hit with criminal charges. Vasquez has not been charged with any crime either.

Vasquez is one of hundreds of drivers hired by Uber to act as ‘safety monitors’ in driver-less cars as they test the technology.

Safety monitors are meant to take control of the car if it makes a mistake, even though the technology is supposed to be so advanced as to be immune from making mistakes and therefore safer than human drivers.

Video released Wednesday shows the car’s safety monitor looking down at something in the moment before Herzberg was hit

Herzberg was hit crossing the street with her bike, but not at a crosswalk. Police are still trying to determine blame in the incident

A video released by the Tempe police on Wednesday shows Vasquez looking down at something the moment before Herzberg was hit. Driver-less cars have multiple sensors that inform them about their surrounds so they can avoid obstacles, such as a bicyclist like Herzberg who abruptly crossed into the road.

White said she was shocked to hear that it was an autonomous car that killed Herzberg, who she has known for more than 20 years.

‘It’s absolutely ridiculous,’ said White. ‘I can’t believe that the [driver] that was in the car did not see her.’

She said she wasn’t sure if the immediate family would be suing Uber and the driver.

‘Ain’t no amount of money in the world going to bring her back,’ she said.

Uber has suspended its testing of driver-less cars for the time being.

White says she hopes they will stop pursuing the techonology completely.

‘This might be the first, but I’ll tell you what, there will be more,’ White said.