HB583 Summary

• Establishes the TJ Atchison Spinal Cord Injury Research Act to create a Spinal Cord Injury Research Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham focused on discovering cures for spinal cord injuries.

• Creates the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund to be administered by the research director within the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UAB, with funds used to award grants for spinal cord injury research.

• Imposes additional fees on traffic violations to fund the program: $10 for driving under the influence convictions, $5 for aggravated moving traffic violations, and $1 for all other moving traffic violations.

• Designates aggravated moving traffic violations to include reckless driving, failure to yield right-of-way, passing stopped school buses, speeding 26+ mph over limit, driving on wrong side of road, and illegal passing.

• Sunsets the act on January 1, 2017, unless extended by legislative action; becomes effective on the first day of the third month following passage and approval by the Governor.