PHOENIX - The daughter of Elaine Herzberg, the woman killed in the Uber self-driving crash earlier this week in Tempe, has hired a Glendale personal injury law firm, according to a statement from the firm.
In the statement, one of the partners at Bellah Perez, PLLC said the firm felt a "special responsibility to represent this case" as a law firm based in Arizona.
"By encouraging businesses like Uber to set up shop in Arizona, the state has hoped to be at
the forefront of emerging technology and the sharing economy," the firm said. "But the potentially drastic shift in accident liability associated with self-driving technology is causing many professionals to question the legal implications of the industry."
The crash happened Sunday night. Herzber, 49, was hit by an Uber vehicle, operating in autonomous mode, while trying to cross Mill Avenue just south of Curry Road. She was not in a crosswalk and later died at a hospital.
Police said the vehicle was traveling at about 40 mph and did not show signs of slowing down before the impact. The vehicle did have an operator, 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez. Tempe police released a video Wednesday showing the moments leading up to the fatal collision.
Herzberg is believed to be the first pedestrian killed by a self-driving vehicle in the U.S., which quickly caused the incident to make national headlines.
But in their statement, Bellah Perez said it "doesn’t want the public to forget the loss experienced by the family of the victim."
The firm said it's first priority will be its client's desire to understand what happened.
"For Bellah Perez and Herzberg’s daughter, this case is fundamentally about a woman who lost her mother and wants to understand why," the firm wrote.
A Valley attorney previously told 12 News a company can be held liable both civilly and criminally in an incident like this.
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