Uber plans smaller, more cautious self-driving car launch

Uber's logo is displayed on a mobile phone in London, Britain. [Photo: Reuters]

Uber Technologies Inc’s is plotting the return of its self-driving cars, but the company known for its hard-charging style is taking a much more conservative approach as it tries to recover from a fatal accident that upended its autonomous vehicle program.

After it receives approval from the state of Pennsylvania, Uber plans to begin driving “a handful” of cars on a mile loop between two company offices in Pittsburgh, where Uber first debuted its autonomous vehicles in 2016, company spokeswoman Sarah Abboud said. That would mark Uber’s first self-driving car tests on public streets since it halted its operations nearly nine months ago in the wake of a crash in Arizona that killed a pedestrian.