New Jersey bill would require AVs to use 3 sensing technologies

New Jersey lawmakers are advancing legislation that would require fully autonomous vehicles to use at least three sensing technologies, a mandate that would effectively bar Tesla's camera-only robotaxi system from operating in the state. Democratic state Sen. Andrew Zwicker, the bill's primary sponsor, said the measure is intended to ensure safety in the nation's most densely populated state. "This is not anti-Tesla," Zwicker said. "I'm pro-New Jersey safety." The bill, expected to come up for a vote later this year, would establish a three-year pilot program requiring companies to use cameras plus two other sensing technologies, most commonly lidar and radar. Companies would also have to complete at least 50,000 miles of supervised testing in New Jersey without a major incident before removing human safety drivers. If enacted, New Jersey would be the first state to codify such a hardware mandate into law, moving ahead of a similar proposal pending in New York. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long argued that cameras paired with artificial intelligence are sufficient and that adding lidar and radar can reduce safety by creating sensor contention. Most other autonomous vehicle developers, including Waymo and Zoox, combine cameras with lidar and radar, arguing redundancy makes driving safer. Carnegie Mellon professor Philip Koopman said camera-only technology is not currently up to the challenge of operating 24/7 on New Jersey roads.