Uber Test Driver Was Streaming ‘The Voice’ on Hulu as Self-Driving Car Crashed

The “safety” driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber car that struck and killed a pedestrian in March was streaming a Hulu show on her phone up until the time of the crash, investigators have found. Police in Tempe, Arizona, concluded the accident would have been “entirely avoidable” if the driver, Rafaela Vasquez, had been paying attention. Police obtained records from the streaming service that showed Vasquez’s account was playing talent show The Voice on the night of the crash for about 42 minutes, ending at 9:59 p.m., which “coincides with the approximate time of the collision,” according to the report. Elaine Herzberg was pushing a bicycle across a road when she was struck by the vehicle and later died at a hospital, in the first recorded case of a pedestrian being killed by an self-driving car. It is not yet clear if Vasquez will be charged.