Plainfield had 5 vehicular fatalities in 2007 -- and you didn't know?

A 'good news' story in Saturday's Courier on the increase in cash receipts to the city owing to more traffic tickets being written has a little surprise tucked away near the end of the story --

Moreover, Hellwig said, the move contributed to lowered motor vehicle accident statistics he believes are directly related to the shift. The department has recorded just one vehicular fatality and 1,356 accidents to date in 2008, he said, while figures at the same date last year sat at five and 1,508, respectively. [Emphasis added.]

Do YOU recall five traffic fatalities last year? Nor do I.

Read the full story here.

Be careful, though. The big numbers being tossed around are for COURT REVENUES -- only part of the money collected goes to the City.

Unmentioned in all of this is that the City is probably just getting back up to the figures from the McWilliams administration, after suffering a disastrous collapse in receipts from the Municipal Court in the first two years of the Robinson-Briggs administration.

Is Mayor Robinson-Briggs patting herself on the back for what by rights she's just supposed to do?

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• Courier: "Increased traffic citations rings up revenue for Plainfield"

-- Dan Damon

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