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Backup driver in fatal Uber crash was distracted, according to police. The human backup driver in an autonomous Uber SUV was streaming the television show “The Voice” on her phone and looking downward just before fatally striking a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix, according to a police report. What to read next.

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The report said police concluded the crash, which has dealt Uber Technologies Inc a major setback in its efforts to develop self-driving cars, would have been "entirely avoidable" if Vasquez had been paying attention. Vasquez could face charges of vehicular manslaughter, according to the report, which was released late on Thursday in response to a public records request. "We continue to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations while conducting our own internal safety review," an Uber spokeswoman said. In addition to the report, police released a slew of audio files of 911 calls made by Vasquez, who waited at the scene for police, and bystanders; photographs of Herzberg's damaged bicycle and the Uber car; and videos from police officers' body cameras that capture the minutes after the crash, including harrowing screams in the background.

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PHOENIX (AP) — The human backup driver in an autonomous Uber SUV was streaming the television show "The Voice" and looking downward just before fatally striking a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix, according to a police report. The 300-page report released Thursday night by police in Tempe revealed that driver Rafaela Vasquez had been streaming the musical talent show on her phone via Hulu in the 43 minutes before the March 18 crash that killed Elaine Herzberg as she crossed a darkened road outside the lines of a crosswalk. Tempe police are looking at a vehicular manslaughter charge in the crash, according to a March 19 affidavit filed to get a search warrant for audio, video and data stored in the Uber SUV. Analysis of video taken from the vehicle shows Vasquez looked downward 204 times in the 11.8 miles traveled before the crash. While the SUV was in motion, Vasquez averted her eyes away from the roadway nearly a third of the time, according to the report.

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The National Transportation Safety Board, in a preliminary report issued last month, said the autonomous driving system on Uber's Volvo XC-90 SUV spotted Herzberg about six seconds before hitting her, but did not stop because the system used to automatically apply brakes in potentially dangerous situations had been disabled. In the lengthy report, Tempe police wrote that Vasquez "appears to be looking down at the area near her right knee at various points in the video." Sometimes her face "appears to react and show a smirk or laugh at various points during the times that she is looking down. Her hands are not visible in the frame of the video during these times." The police report concluded that even though Herzberg was outside of a crosswalk when hit, Vasquez was inattentive and failed to take control of the vehicle to avoid the crash. An Uber spokeswoman said in a prepared statement Friday morning that any use of a mobile device by a backup driver while a vehicle is moving is a fireable offense.

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According to the report, Vasquez could face charges of vehicle manslaughter. Police said that, based on testing, the crash was "deemed entirely avoidable" if Vasquez had been paying attention. The company prohibits the use of any mobile device by safety drivers while the self-driving cars are on a public road, and drivers are told they can be fired for violating this rule. In addition to the report, police released on Thursday a slew of audio files of 911 calls made by Vasquez, who waited at the scene for police, and bystanders the night of the crash; photographs of Herzberg's damaged bicycle and the Uber car; and videos from police officers' body cameras that capture the minutes after the crash, including harrowing screams in the background.

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New Delhi: India's state-owned natural gas utility GAIL (India) and US-based cab aggregator Uber on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel across various cities in India starting from Bengaluru, GAIL said in a statement. As part of the agreement, GAIL Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAIL will provide free CNG to the first 500 cars joining under the program, capped at a maximum of Rs 10,000 per car. The company said the use of CNG-based vehicles will result in savings of around 60 per cent over petrol, 50 per cent over diesel and around 45 per cent over auto-Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for consumers and UBER drivers will be able to save over Rs 15,000 every month in fuel expenses. The MoU was signed today between the two companies during the inauguration of a GAIL Gas CNG Station at Hardware Technology Park near Bengaluru airport in the presence of GAIL Chairman B C Tripathi, A K Jana, Chief Executive Officer at GAIL Gas and Madhu Kannan, Chief Business Officer, Emerging Markets, Uber. GAIL said six CNG stations are currently operational at Laggere (Prem Nagar), APC Circle (Jigani), Peenya Industrial Area, Sungadkatte and Bommasandra Industrial Area in the city.

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Uber names Pradeep Parameswaran as India & South Asia PresidentHe succeeds Amit Jain, who was elevated to the role of Head of Asia Pacific region last month.PTI | June 19, 2018, 13:59 IST. NEW DELHI: US-based cab aggregator Uber on Tuesday said it has elevated Pradeep Parameswaran as President of its India and South Asia operations. "I'm delighted to announce Pradeep Parameswaran will succeed me as the President of Uber India and South Asia, effective immediately. As a key member of Uber's regional leadership team, Pradeep will be responsible for leading the Rides operation to new heights," Jain said in a blogpost. Parameswaran said, "India is a critical global market that faces tough and exciting mobility challenges...I am privileged to have the chance to shape a better future for our next generation - one with lesser pollution, lower congestion, more space for parks and lesser for parking". South Asia, including India, is an important market for Uber.

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Google kills feature to book Uber rides through MapsThe feature allowing users to book Uber rides through Google Maps was added in January last year, with which users could enter a location, identify their route, check Uber prices and request a ride without leaving the Maps app.IANS | June 19, 2018, 16:23 IST. Google has reportedly killed the ability of direct Uber ride booking from inside Google Maps without giving any reason. On one Google Maps Help page, Google simply says "you can no longer book Uber rides directly in Google Maps", Android Police reported late on Monday. The ability to book an Uber through Maps allowed users to avoid the official Uber app, which has previously been criticised for its aggressive location tracking.

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Google added the ability to book Uber trips directly through Maps at the start of 2017, but it appears that this convenience was short-lived. The search firm has quietly pulled direct Uber booking from Google Maps for Android after yanking it from the iOS app last summer. It's not certain exactly when the feature vanished. However, Android Policenoted that the feature was still present as recently as February. There's also a chance that Uber might prefer users to rely on its own app (Maps can still point you in Uber's direction), but it was still going to make money either way -- it's losing an avenue for some customers. Whatever the rationale, hailing a car just became slightly more complicated. What to read next.

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