Bill Would Fund Alabama Spinal Cord Injury Research

A state senator from south Alabama has proposed a bill that would use fees paid for traffic violations such as DUI and reckless driving to fund research into spinal cord injuries.

Democratic state Sen. Marc Keahey of Grove Hill announced plans for the bill at a news conference Monday at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

Keahey said the bill was inspired by South Alabama student T.J. Atchison, who was paralyzed from the waist down in an automobile accident.

Keahey said a similar law in California provides more than $11 million a year for spinal cord injury research from traffic fines.

Keahey believes the bill would raise $400,000 to $500,000 a year from the traffic fines and four to five times that much from private donors and other sources.