Days after it was revealed that Uber Technologies Inc. confidentially filed to go public, the ghost of mismanagement past has come back to haunt it: a fatal accident involving a self-driving vehicle in March.

The Information Monday published an email sent by Robbie Miller, then a manager in Uber’s testing-operations group, to Uber executives and lawyers. In it, he warned them of serious safety issues with the technology and testing program on March 13, five days before an Uber vehicle killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.

Miller, who left Uber the same month, warned that “a car was damaged nearly every other day in February” and that Uber “shouldn’t be hitting things every 15,000 miles.”

The accidents were being caused by both substandard technology and the drivers Uber employed to test the vehicles, according to Miller. On the latter, Miller claimed that operators often did not pay attention and repeated infractions for poor driving rarely resulted in termination. “Several of the drivers appear to not have been properly vetted or trained,” Miller added.

The training of the drivers is highly relevant in relation to the fatal crash that subsequently occurred. Although it’s recognized that the technology may not be perfect — after all, it was being tested — the drivers are supposed to be alert and take control if something goes wrong. In the Tempe fatal crash, video showed the driver not paying attention.

Ultimately the software was blamed for the accident, but the fact that Uber executives had been made aware of serious concerns about the safety of the company’s self-driving car program prior to the accident is at the least not a good look. At the worst, it could increase potential liability.

Responding to the email, Uber said in a statement that “right now the entire team is focused on safely and responsibly returning to the road in self-driving mode.”

“We have every confidence in the work that the team is doing to get us there,” it continued. “Our team remains committed to implementing key safety improvements, and we intend to resume on-the-road self-driving testing only when these improvements have been implemented and we have received authorization from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.”

Photo: Uber