The back-up safety driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber  test vehicle that ran down and killed a woman in Arizona two years ago has been charged with negligent homicide.

Reuters reports that Rafael Vasquez pleaded not guilty over the death of Elaine Herzberg. She has been released pending trial set for February 2021.

Herzberg was hit while she walking a bicycle across a street at night. A police report said Vasquez was repeatedly looking down instead of keeping her eyes on the road. Police said previously the crash was “entirely avoidable” and that Vasquez was streaming “The Voice” TV programme at the time of the crash.

(Picture – ABC TV coverage of the crash in August 2018)