Family files lawsuit in fatal Uber self-driving incident
The family of a woman who died last year after being hit by a self-driving Uber car has sued the city of Tempe, Ariz., where the woman, Elaine Herzberg, was killed.
The $10 million claim against Tempe accuses the city of creating a dangerous situation by having a median where pedestrians are not supposed to cross, according to USA Today. Herzberg was walking across the street at that spot when she was struck by the Uber vehicle.
{mosads}The lawsuit was filed by Skousen, Gulbrandsen & Patience and reportedly seeks $5 million each for Herzberg’s daughter, Christine Wood, and Herzberg’s husband, Rolf Ziemann.
According to USA Today, the lawsuit states that the median where the incident occurred “has a brick pathway cutting through the desert landscaping that is clearly designed to accommodate people to cross at the site of the accident.”
The accident was the first incident in the U.S. of a self-driving car hitting a pedestrian and causing a death, according to USA Today.
It was later revealed that the driver in the Uber was watching the show “The Voice” on Hulu at the time of the incident. The vehicle has been placed in self-driving mode.
Following the accident, Uber suspended all of its self-driving car testing on public roads. The company later returned the self-driving cars to the road for testing in Pittsburgh.
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