New Jersey is at it again. While the rest of the country moves toward safer, smarter transportation, Trenton politicians are cooking up legislation that would effectively keep true driverless cars off the state’s roads.

Tesla recently emailed its New Jersey owners about bills S. 1677 and A. 3968, which are being sold as the state’s first autonomous vehicle pilot program. In reality, the bills impose restrictions so severe that actual driverless technology — the kind Tesla and others are already deploying elsewhere — would remain illegal. The legislation demands hardware requirements that Tesla’s vision-only Full Self-Driving system doesn’t use, effectively carving out competitors while blocking the company that has led the charge on autonomous safety.

This isn’t isolated incompetence. It fits a clear pattern. Last year, New Jersey Turnpike officials forced the removal of dozens of Tesla Superchargers along the state’s busiest highway, replacing them with a different provider. The state still clings to its archaic full-service gas station law, one of the last holdouts in America. Now it wants to slow-walk or sabotage the next generation of transportation.

Autonomous vehicles aren’t science fiction anymore. Real-world data from states that have welcomed them shows measurable reductions in accidents. Human error causes the vast majority of crashes. Robotaxis and advanced driver assistance systems are already proving safer on public roads in places with more forward-thinking policies. New Jersey, instead of leading or even keeping pace, appears determined to fall behind.

This is the same blue-state mindset driving residents out in droves. New Jersey consistently ranks at or near the top for highest property taxes in the nation, with median bills well over $9,000. Combined with sky-high cost of living, heavy regulation, and a political class more interested in scoring points against certain companies than delivering results for citizens, it’s no wonder domestic outmigration continues. Population growth here relies almost entirely on international immigration while native-born residents and businesses look elsewhere.

Red states like Texas and Florida have created environments that attract people and capital by embracing innovation rather than regulating it into oblivion. They don’t punish companies for succeeding or block technologies that could save lives. New Jersey’s approach — heavy on special-interest protection and light on actual progress — keeps delivering the opposite message.

Every new layer of pointless restriction adds another reason for families, entrepreneurs, and young professionals to pack up and leave. Blocking safer roads isn’t protecting anyone. It’s just one more self-inflicted wound in a state already struggling to retain the people who pay its bills.