Keep an eye on the speedometer when driving through this village _ or be prepared to reach for your wallet and join thousands of people ticketed in 1989. National City, with just 70 residents, has 12 officers to patrol the one-mile stretch of Illinois Route 3 that bisects the village. Last year, National City police wrote more than 5,000 traffic tickets and earned more than $122,000 for the village coffers _ one-quarter of the overall budget. The 35 mph limit is posted on at least eight signs on each side of the road, Assistant Police Chief Jim Farrell said Tuesday. ``You can hardly call it a speed trap, because the speed limit is well posted,'' he said. The Illinois Department of Transportation estimates 8,700 cars daily pass through National City, which is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and home to the National Stockyards Co. livestock complex and related businesses. ``It's sort of like a racetrack out there at times,'' Farrell said. ``We try to keep the traffic speed down and keep somebody from getting killed.'' Police began closely monitoring the highway five or six years ago after residents complained about the number of accidents, Farrell said. County records show National City police wrote 5,091 traffic tickets from Jan. 1 through Dec. 28, 1989. Most drivers were ticketed for speeding, although some were cited for multiple violations. Those citations accounted for nearly 8.5 percent of the 60,000 moving-violation traffic tickets issued last year in St. Clair County, which has a population of 265,000, said Barney Metz, county court clerk. State Police Capt. Bobby Henry, area commander, said he was surprised by the high number of tickets issued in National City. ``That's not a negative comment,'' he said. ``For a small department, they're obviously out there working to get that many citations.'' Route 3 has a 30 mph limit as it enters National City from East St. Louis. The speed limit then goes up to 35 mph, and stays there as the road leaves National City. Police Chief Edward Daubach said tickets aren't issued unless drivers exceed the limit by at least 10 mph. Village Clerk Kathryn Kuecker said National City's annual budget is about $400,000 to $450,000, with most of the revenue coming from property and sales taxes. St. Clair County is one of the state's most impoverished. ``We really don't know how much would come in in a given year'' from traffic tickets, Kuecker said Tuesday. However, the minimum penalty for a moving violation in Illinois is $50, of which local authorities keep $24; that would mean National City received more than $122,000 from the tickets issued last year. The village, with five full-time and seven part-time officers, is patrolled at all times by two officers in one car who use a radar detector. Officers have heard their share of excuses from speeders, Farrell said. ``We had one guy tell us he was in a hurry to go home and take his medicine,'' he said.
