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PA prepares for self-driving cars/Babies born addicted up 1000%

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What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, April 6, 2018:

“Pennsylvania is at the forefront of the vehicle automation revolution.”  That’s according to Roger Cohen, a senior advisor in the state Department of Transportation.  Cohen appears on Friday’s Smart Talk to explain how the state is preparing and testing for autonomous vehicles or as most people call them — “self-driving cars.”

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Roger J. Cohen, PA Department of Transportation

Uber has tested self-driving vehicles on Pittsburgh’s streets for the last year.  Overall, the tests have gone well but it appears as though we still could be a few years away from driverless cars on the road.  Safety has to be of paramount importance.  A reminder of how far the technology has to go is a recent incident in Arizona where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a self-driving vehicle.

However, autonomous vehicles could contribute in many ways to the state’s transportation future like reducing the number of fatal crashes and being more efficient and thus reducing the need for more infrastructure.

We learn more on Smart Talk.

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Also, a new report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council finds that the rate of babies born in Pennsylvania suffering from drug withdrawal or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome increased more than 1,000% between 2000 and 2017.

Those babies were often born premature, with a low birth weight and had trouble breating.

Joe Martin, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council joins us on Friday’s Smart Talk.

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Joe Martin, Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council

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