Uber should get charged with manslaughter. I don't say that lightly. This isn't an example of programmer error, where a alpha-version self-driving system failed. That would've been unfortunate, but not grossly negligent. Here, Uber put a "driver" in control of the car that
by design wasn't able to avoid collisions with pedestrians. According to the NTSB, Uber disabled
Uber's own emergency braking system (not just the built-in Volvo one) “to reduce potential for erratic behavior.”[1] That rises to gross, criminal negligence.
It is no defense to say that Uber also told a human driver to be present. If Uber had directed a five year old to drive the SUV, with a back-up driver ready to take control, I think everyone would agree that qualifies as gross negligence notwithstanding the presence of the back-up driver. (To be clear, I think some risk in the name of progress is acceptable. But it's one thing to use testing on public roads to work out the kinks in the software. It's another to put vehicles on the road that you know cannot perform the basic, essential functions of driving.)
[1] http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-uber-arizona-nts... ("However, Uber also disabled its own emergency braking function whenever the test car was under driverless computer control, 'to reduce potential for erratic behavior.'").
It is no defense to say that Uber also told a human driver to be present. If Uber had directed a five year old to drive the SUV, with a back-up driver ready to take control, I think everyone would agree that qualifies as gross negligence notwithstanding the presence of the back-up driver. (To be clear, I think some risk in the name of progress is acceptable. But it's one thing to use testing on public roads to work out the kinks in the software. It's another to put vehicles on the road that you know cannot perform the basic, essential functions of driving.)
[1] http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-uber-arizona-nts... ("However, Uber also disabled its own emergency braking function whenever the test car was under driverless computer control, 'to reduce potential for erratic behavior.'").