Thread by @WIRED

At one point the self-driving revolution felt right around the corner. Companies boasted about rapid time-lines, and tech workers raced to be a part of the solution. But the death of Elaine Herzberg punctured that promise and humbled an industry. wired.trib.al/ClXfdRc 1/13

In March 2018, Uber autonomous vehicle test operator Rafaela Vasquez set out on her route for the night. By her third loop in Tempe, AZ, the driving system registered a vehicle just seconds ahead but made no alert. It was not, in fact, a car. 📸: Cassidy Araiza 2/13

The computer fluctuated between calling it vehicle, other,and bicycle. It tried to generate a plan to steer around the object but couldn’t.Then Vasquez saw what it was:a person. By the time she put the car into manual mode,it was too late.🎥: Uber via Tempe Police Department 3/13

Elaine Herzberg had recently resorted to camping in the streets and often carried a radio to play the local rock station. That night, she became the world’s first pedestrian killed by a self-driving car. 📸:Cassidy Araiza 4/13

By 2017, Arizona had become the lead site for Uber’s test program. The company pushed hundreds of millions of dollars into its self-driving unit. And over three years, it grew to more than 1,000 employees across five cities.
Then the accident happened. 5/13

The police told Vasquez not to “beat yourself up about it”. But they, like the Uber reps at the scene, knew this wasn’t a normal collision; it was international news.And while Uber helped the police investigate,Vasquez became the face of the crash. 📸:Tempe Police Department 6/13

Questions swirled around whether Vasquez, who can be seen looking downwards in footage from the car’s camera, was using her phone before the impact. 7/13

In the aftermath of the crash, hundreds of employees were laid off. Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group ended its self-driving truck program, and the remaining staff shifted their attention to a new era hyper-focused on improving safety. 8/13

Some of Vasquez's colleagues soon turned against her. Others, along with the U.S. agency that investigates crashes, say that she was just one part of Uber’s flawed system to ensure safety. 📸: Cassidy Araiza 9/13

A year after the crash Uber learned it wouldn't face criminal consequences. In 2020, Vasquez was indicted for negligent homicide. And that’s how Rafaela Vasquez—and only Rafaela Vazquez—was indicted for allegedly causing the first pedestrian death by a self-driving car. 10/13

Vasquez, who has been publicly silent for three and a half years, spoke with WIRED.

“At first everybody was all on my side, even the chief of police. Now it's the opposite. It was literally, one day I'm fine and next day I'm the villain. It’s very—it's isolating.” 11/13

Click the link to learn more. And stay tuned for more stories from WIRED’s March edition. wired.trib.al/ClXfdRc 12/13

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