U.S. investigator urges Tesla to fix self-driving concerns, report says

The U.S.’s top crash investigator urged Tesla Inc. to address safety concerns before expanding its cars’ self-driving features, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“Basic safety issues have to be addressed before they then expand it to other city streets and other areas,” Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in an interview with the newspaper.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week drivers would soon be able to upgrade the so-called full self-driving capability of their vehicles. The move is expected to make driver-assistance tools that were designed mainly for highways usable in city environments too, though it doesn’t make cars completely autonomous.

The term ‘full self-driving’ is “misleading and irresponsible,” Homendy said. The marketing may attract more attention than warnings in car manuals, the WSJ added.

The NTSB investigates crashes and issues safety recommendations but has no regulatory authority.

Tesla didn’t respond to a WSJ request for comment.