What I don't get is that if this is a test car, how come the the driver did not take over the helm immediately. The driver in that car should be in full alert as if driving the vehicle himself and jump in as needed. Test should not mean to let loose an autonomous car.
Do you think you could maintain the required state of alertness, focus, and engagement necessary to hit the brakes and turn the wheel after 30 minutes (or whatever) of just sitting passively as the car drove you around?
I don't think the "safety drivers" do much other than provide liability-shifting for the company.
the drivers are employed by the company, doing company work. They may (misleadingly) shift the optics away from the automation, but they don't shift the liability.
Unlike all the other comments discussing charges, this one actually has a good point. Presumably the safety driver is there specifically to prevent this from happening. They'd still have to show that the driver was personally at fault. That would mean showing that the driver was e.g. sleeping/not paying enough attention, or something similar.
At the very least, it might call into question whether safety drivers are actually providing any real safety. Localities may start to crack down on using that kind of excuse for self-driving tests.
A test pseudo-"driver" ought to be doing stuff like orally making notes of the environment and car operation, collecting data the sensors might be missing, and monitoring the car's automated judgement. As a related effect, the human should be ready to emergency brake or swerve.
