The safety driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber that struck and killed a woman in 2018 has been charged with a crime. Prosecutors in Maricopa County, Arizona, Tuesday said the driver, Rafaela Vasquez, has been indicted for criminal negligence. But Uber, her employer and the company that built the automated system involved in the fatal collision, won't face charges. The attorney for neighboring Yavapai County declined to prosecute Uber last year, writing in a letter that the office found "no basis for criminal liability." Yavapai County attorney Sheila Polk declined to elaborate on her decision.

A year after the first fatality caused by a fully self-driving car, questions about liability in the event of a death involving the cars are still completely up in the air. Officials announced earlier this week that Uber won't face criminal charges in the death of a pedestrian struck and killed by one of its self-driving cars nearly a year ago in Tempe, Arizona. The Yavapai County Attorney's Office said it conducted a thorough review of the evidence and determined there was no basis for criminal liability against Uber. It did not detail how the decision was made and has declined to answer any questions on the case. The pedestrian was walking a bicycle across a road at night.

Mr. Douma said prosecutors' announcement Tuesday tracked with how typically people, and not car manufacturers, are held responsible for crimes they commit behind the wheel. But, as autonomous vehicles become more sophisticated, he said, such cases raise questions about that way of thinking. "Is this driver, or was this driver, behaving in any way different than what most drivers are going to be behaving like when the car is doing this much driving?" he said. "It's a very conventional way of thinking to say we can expect and we should expect people to sit and monitor technology that is otherwise doing all the decision-making." The Yavapai County Attorney's Office did its review at the request of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which had a potential conflict of interest in the case because of an earlier partnership with Uber in a safety campaign.

The Yavapai County Attorney said in a letter made public that there was "no basis for criminal liability" for Uber, but that the back-up driver, Rafaela Vasquez, should be referred to the Tempe police for additional investigation. Prosecutors' decision not to pursue criminal charges removes one potential headache for the ride-hailing company as the company's executives try to resolve a long list of federal investigations, lawsuits and other legal risks ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering this year. The crash involved a Volvo XC90 sport utility vehicle that Uber was using to test self-driving technology. The fatal accident was a setback from which the company has yet to recover; its autonomous vehicle testing remains dramatically reduced. The accident was also a blow to the entire autonomous vehicle industry and led other companies to temporarily halt their testing.

A video still from a mounted camera captures the moment before a self-driving Uber SUV fatally struck a woman in Tempe, Ariz., last March. A Yavapai County prosecutor found that Uber is not criminally liable for the crash. A video still from a mounted camera captures the moment before a self-driving Uber SUV fatally struck a woman in Tempe, Ariz., last March. A Yavapai County prosecutor found that Uber is not criminally liable for the crash. An Arizona prosecutor has determined that Uber is not criminally liable in the death of a Tempe woman who was struck by a self-driving test car last year.

Who is criminally liable when a self-driving car fatally strikes a pedestrian? Not the company that built and tested the car -- at least not when it comes to Uber's fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona last March, which killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. Uber won't be charged with a crime, according to a letter, first reported on by Quartz, from Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, the prosecutor who was temporarily in charge of the case. "After a very thorough review of all the evidence presented, this Office has determined that there is no basis for criminal liability for the Uber corporation arising from this matter," reads the document. Originally, the case was being prosecuted by Arizona's Maricopa County, but that department was forced to temporarily hand it off to Yavapai County due to a potential conflict of interest.

Uber will not be held criminally liable in the fatal crash last year in Tempe, Arizona, in which a self-driving vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian, a county prosecutor announced Tuesday. Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk said Uber won't face criminal charges in the March 2018 crash -- believed to be the first fatality in the U.S. involving a self-driving vehicle. Polk said her office concluded that video of the crash likely didn't accurately depict the collision and recommended that Tempe police seek more evidence. DRIVER IN FATAL SELF-DRIVING UBER CRASH WAS WATCHING'THE VOICE,' INVESTIGATORS SAY It's not known whether prosecutors are considering charges against the driver. Dashcam video released by the Tempe Police Department last year showed an interior view of Uber backup driver Rafael Vasquez in the moments before the crash.

"This crash would not have occurred if Vasquez would have been monitoring the vehicle and roadway conditions and was not distracted," the Tempe, Ariz., police report said. The police report said Ms. Vasquez could face vehicular manslaughter charges. Tempe police have referred the case to the Yavapai County attorney's office, where a spokeswoman said the matter is under review. Uber said in a statement it has a "a strict policy prohibiting mobile device usage for anyone operating our self-driving vehicles." Ms. Vasquez, who no longer works for Uber, couldn't be reached for comment.