Uber Self-Driving Fatal Crash: Uber Settles With Victim's Family

TEMPE, AZ – Uber has apparently settled with family of the victim struck and killed by one of their self-driving cars last week. Elaine Herzberg was killed March 18 as she walked her bicycle across Mill Avenue.

The law firm hired by Herzberg's daughter said in a statement that the matter "has been resolved."

Uber, which has not yet commented on the resolution, previous released a statement saying that "our hearts go out to the victim's family.

"We're fully cooperating with Tempe Police and local authorities as they investigate this incident."

After Tempe police released a 22-second video showing the crash, the company released a second statement calling the video "heartbreaking to watch."

The video showed the crash from two angles. One showing what the car was approaching – Herzberg can be seen and there is no indication that the the car was slowing down.

The second angle showed the human "driver," who can be seen looking down and away until the moment that the crash happened. While the car was in "self-driving" – or "autonomous" mode – the cars are supposed to have a person with hands on the wheel in case something goes wrong.

The video indicates that did not happen.

It's not believed that the lawyer for Herzberg's family had gone as far as to file a lawsuit or even a notice of claim.

The lawyer, Glendale-based Christina Perez Hesano, had previously released a statement saying: "as an Arizona law firm, we feel a special responsibility to represent this case as it directly impacts our fellow Arizonans sharing the road with these machines."

Hesano said that while Arizona has hoped to be a testing ground for self-driving cars – in addition to Uber, companies such as Waymo and Intel have set up shop in the state – the move has opened up previously unexplored area of liability law.

At the same time, she said, "this case is fundamentally about a woman who lost her mother and wants to understand why."

Meanwhile, Tempe police and two federal agencies – the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board – all continue their probes into what happened.

Photo from Tempe Police via Uber.