Speeding Ticket Fees will go to Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury Fund
Posted by
Christina ColeMarch 29, 2007 12:18 AMDrivers caught speeding will pay the price of the ticket and additional fees to boot, including $70 in court cost fees. And $2 jury fee, $7 record keeping fee, $3 public defenders and much more. By the time it is done, the average motorist ends up paying close to $110 in court costs and fees for basic traffic infractions.
The House-passed version of a state budget, now resting in the Senate's hands, is an additional $18 fee that will be added to 27 of the moving violations - from improper passing to speeding and running a red light. The difference this time though, the money won't be going toward running the judicial system. Rather, the millions of dollars that are generated statewide will be earmarked for a brain injury and spinal cord research fund.
A bill was introduced this year to set up a registry to track such injures as well as a research fund. Instead, House leaders inserted the language into the budget to pay for the fees via an increase.
According to the Legislative Services Agency, more than a million Hoosiers were found guilty of one of the specified motor vehicle operating violations in 2006. Assuming the numbers remain consistent, that means the $18 fee could bring in 19. 1 million a year for the spinal cord and brain injury fund.In addition, the budget calls for motorcycle registration fees to jump from million for the $17 to $27, which is expected to bring in an additional $1.6 fund.
"The thought was to build a research fund because we are seeing more and more spinal cord and brain injuries," Mays said. "With the life-science growth that we have in Indiana we thought it was a perfect opportunity to combine the two."
11,000 Americans around the world experience a traumatic spinal cord injury each year. Motorcycle and auto accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries that account for over half of new spinal cord injuries each year, according to data collected by the Mayo Clinic
While, the National Center for Injury and Prevention & Control reports a million Americans suffer from traumatic brain injuries every year.