Self-driving vehicles from Uber Technologies Inc. have been given permission to return to Pennsylvania roads nine months after one of the company’s cars struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona.

The accident, in March, which was found to be due to an issue with the vehicle’s self-driving software, resulted in Uber suspending testing across its four test locations in Pittsburgh, Toronto, San Francisco and Phoenix.

In July, Uber put some of the vehicles back on the road but only with a “manual driver,” an employee driving the cars without using the self-driving option technology engaged.

The approval to resume testing in Pennsylvania, revealed by The Information today, marks the first time Uber’s self-driving cars using the technology will have returned to testing on public roads.

But there will be some restrictions. According to TechCrunch, Uber will be required to have two employees in the front seat of its cars at all times, an automatic braking system must be enabled and its safety employees must be strictly monitored.

Two of the three requirements relate directly to the revelation that the employee behind the wheel of the Uber vehicle involved in the fatal crash was not paying attention to the road at the time of the accident. In addition, Uber said, it now has real-time third-party monitoring of backup safety drivers, has set limits on the hours drivers can work per day and has improved training for drivers.

The return of Uber’s self-driving cars to public roads comes after it was recently revealed that Uber executives were made aware of safety concerns with the vehicles prior to the fatal crash. A report Dec. 11 claimed that Robbie Miller, then a manager in Uber’s testing operations group, had sent an email to Uber executives and lawyers warning them of serious safety issues with the technology and testing program on March 13, five days before the crash.

Although the ghosts of mismanagement past may continue to haunt Uber, the news that it has been given the green light to test its vehicles once again is a positive as it heads toward an initial public offering in the first half of next year.

Photo: Uber