TEMPE, Ariz.—The test operator in the Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving car that killed an Arizona woman was a felon with a history of traffic citations who wasn’t watching the road before the accident happened, facts that raise new questions about the company’s testing process for autonomous technology.

The accident and its resulting disclosures are a potential setback in the progress of self-driving cars and to Uber, which has grappled with a number of problems including legal woes and clashes among its board and investors that led to the replacement last year of its founder and chief executive.

The driver, whom police have identified as Rafael Vasquez, is seen in a video looking down for several seconds as the car moved at about 40 miles an hour, right before it hit and killed a pedestrian.

According to Arizona Department of Corrections records, the driver was convicted and received a five-year sentence in Maricopa County for attempted armed robbery in 2000 and served the sentence concurrently with a one-year sentence for a false-statement conviction in 1999. In 1998, the driver pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled license in Tucson City Court and was cited for failing to produce proof of insurance and for driving without a current registration.

The case wasn’t fully resolved until 2012. The driver couldn’t be reached.​