Uber Driver Charged in Girl’s Death

Syed Muzaffar, a former Uber driver, was charged Monday by the San Francisco district attorney with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for hitting and killing a 6-year-old girl while she was crossing the street with her mother and brother on New Year’s Eve 2013. Muzaffar, 57, of Union City, California, was an Uber driver at the time. He was driving a Honda SUV in the Tenderloin neighborhood, when he made a right on a green light and hit Sofia Liu, who was in the crosswalk. The girl’s mother and 4-year-old brother were injured, but survived the collision. Muzaffar was arrested shortly after the incident, but was not charged at the time. The ride-sharing company released a statement after the accident that confirmed Muzaffar was an Uber driver, but had no passenger at the time, and said it had deactivated his account. The family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in the San Francisco Superior Court against Uber in January.