New Jersey lawmakers are deliberating on a law that would create a three-year autonomous vehicle pilot program in the state, but Tesla might be banned from participating altogether over a technical choice made by the Texas-based carmaker for its self-driving vehicles.

The bill, officially known as S1677, would establish autonomous vehicle testing requirements with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. One of these proposed requirements is that autonomous vehicle operators use camera-based technology and two additional forms of sensor tech, such as lidar or radar. Of course, Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology is purely camera-based, meaning the brand could be banned from testing in New Jersey.

The text of the bill is fairly straightforward, requiring prospective autonomous operators to submit a “law enforcement interaction plan” and detail redundant safety systems, crash-avoidance technology, and data recording capabilities. The specific language that would ban Tesla’s system requires autonomous operators to “be equipped with crash-avoidance systems, including a camera system and two distinct sensing modalities that are capable of detecting and tracking obstacles in the event of failure of the camera system.” The bill also favors keeping traditional steering wheel and pedal controls available. While initial testing would be completed with human safety operators, the bill would allow fully autonomous operation once certain metrics, such as 50,000 crash-free miles, are met.

The decision to require both camera- and sensor-based technology is not a coincidence, according to The Verge. “This is not anti-Tesla. I’m pro-New Jersey safety,” Democratic state senator Andrew Zwicker, the bill’s primary sponsor and a physicist by trade, said to The Verge. “At this point, I don’t think the evidence is sufficient that a single sensor with software can handle situations that humans can.”

Tesla is, unsurprisingly, upset about this development, and the company is fighting back. The automaker’s public policy platform, Engage Tesla, features a call to action for Tesla owners to contact members of the New Jersey Legislature to oppose the bill, with the plea claiming the autonomous vehicle testing program is the opposite of progress, and saying that Tesla would be legally barred from testing in the Garden State. Statistics about roadway death rates in New Jersey and denying freedom of movement for elderly populations are also included.

“Rather than prioritizing real safety outcomes and performance, the bill specifically bans Tesla from the New Jersey market,” the site reads. “Every arbitrary roadblock is a delay for the people who need this life-changing technology most. Legislation that bans Tesla’s proven AV technology from the market is not caution — it’s anti-competitive favoritism that will cause New Jersey to fall behind while other states move forward.”

The bill, introduced on January 16, is currently under consideration by the New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. The bill’s language closely mirrors talking points from the nonprofit SAVE-US, which is lobbying for stronger oversight of autonomous vehicle testing. New Jersey is not the only state pondering additional autonomous testing regulation; New York legislators are working on similar legislation. Just yesterday, federal safety regulators called out autonomous vehicle operators like Waymo for interfering with first responders.

A New York transplant hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Emmet White has a passion for anything that goes: cars, bicycles, planes, and motorcycles. After learning to ride at 17, Emmet worked in the motorcycle industry before joining Autoweek in 2022 and Road & Track in 2024. The woes of alternate side parking have kept his fleet moderate, with a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI and a BMW 318i E30 street parked in his Queens community.

President Donald Trump is touting a new fuel option for motorists: Freedom Fuel, advertising gas at a discount price to local consumers.

When the network was opened and announced on July 7, it advertised $3.47 per gallon regular gas at the pumps, a noticeable difference from national and state averages in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

But is the gas actually as cheap as the 47th President says?

According to some gas tracking platforms, it may not be.

On GasBuddy, a website tracking gas prices across the country with a pricing heat map based on user submissions, some of the Freedom Fuel locations’ pricing appeared to have risen.

Some still sporting the names of what appeared to be their previous sites, like a Gas N Go on Island Ave, the following addresses on GasBuddy match those listed as one of Trump’s 25 gas stations.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Mile marker 113.3 on the eastern spur of the New Jersey Turnpike in Secaucus will forever be an incredible memory for one family, who scrambled to deliver their baby boy right on the side of the road.

Kristen Fast was in labor last week, with her husband driving her to the hospital on the turnpike, but when they got to the mile marker, baby Archer couldn’t wait any longer and had to be delivered on the highway.

Archer insisted on arriving three days before he was due, and maybe it was because his lovely big sister, 4-year-old Zelda, was waiting for him.

He was in such a hurry, he didn’t even let mom and dad get to the hospital for him to be born, although they tried.

“The doula said, ‘pull over, hang up, call 911.’ So we did that. We called 911. The operator started walking him through what to do,” said Archer’s mother, Kristen Fast.

“Next thing I know, I get in the back seat, and we’re making sure she’s comfortable, and I look down, and that baby is ready to go,” said Archer’s dad, Alex Fast.

New Jersey State Trooper Freddie Guacamaya responded to Alex’s 911 call.

“Cop comes, puts on his gloves, and he was fantastic,” Alex Fast said.

“I said, ‘Are you the EMT?’ And he didn’t answer. So I said, ‘You are not an EMT. I’m in danger.’ But he was fine, he was being very calm,” Kristen Fast said.

“They said, ‘you got to clamp that cord right away. If you have anything, if you have a string.’ So I panicked and just looked in the front and we just had an iPhone cable. So we just clamped the cord with an iPhone cable,” Alex Fast said.

“The EMTs came, and they said, ‘What is this?’” Kristen Fast said.

The loving, kind courtesies extended to the family just continued, helping to make their emergency experience flawless.

“There were three policemen who showed up. I said, ‘I’d love to be with her in the ambulance.’ And they were amazing. They drove our car to the hospital for us, which was so nice. They paid for our valet,” Alex and Kristen Fast said.

They were all welcomed to Hackensack University Medical Center with a healthy baby and a hearty story, backed by Archer’s exact birthplace, recorded accurately: New Jersey Turnpike I-95, mile marker 113.

“Archer’s healthy. He’s thriving. He’s a Jersey boy through and through. I don’t think you get more Jersey than being born on the New Jersey Turnpike,” Kristen Fast said.