Back-up driver in Arizona 2018 fatal Uber self-driving car crash charged in death

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The back-up safety driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber Technologies self-driving car that struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018 was charged with negligent homicide, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Rafael Vasquez, age 46, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after being charged in the death of Elaine Herzberg.

A Tempe police report said Vasquez was repeatedly looking down instead of keeping his eyes on the road. Prosecutors in March 2019 said Uber was not criminally liable in the crash.

Uber did not immediately comment.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler)