Safety officials are hitting the brakes on Tesla's push for automated cars

Tesla is getting ready to roll out a software upgrade that will allow a select few drivers to use more autonomous driving features in cities. Up to now, the beta versions of driver assistance software made available to thousands of drivers in the US have been designed for the relatively more simple environment of highways. Computer-assisted urban driving would bring Tesla a step closer to CEO Elon Musk's vision of fully self-driving vehicles. But safety officials think the company is getting ahead of itself, and putting drivers at risk. "Basic safety issues have to be addressed before they're then expanding it to other city streets and other areas," Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, a federal agency that investigates transportation accidents, said in a Sept. 19 interview with The Wall Street Journal.