Results from the county’s most recent traffic safety blitz show motorists made their way through Covington County on their way to Gulf Coast beaches over the Memorial Day holiday.

The 10-day blitz, which ended Sunday, coincided with the “Click It or Ticket” campaign, which began May 24 and will run through the July 4 holiday.

Deputies worked a total of 58-overtime hours to target impaired drivers and those not wearing their seat belts, said David Anderson, chief deputy with the Covington County Sheriff’s Office. The initiative is funded through a grant administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

“During that time, deputies made 165 contacts, giving both written and regular citations,” he said. “Luckily for us, we had no accidents with fatalities in Covington County, which is always good news.”

Anderson said of those 165 contacts, 16 seat belt violations; 48 speeding tickets; eight driving while suspended or revoked citations; and 45 speeding warnings were written.

Anderson said the total is twice the number of citations written in 2009, when 76 contacts were made.

“We were also lucky enough to receive twice the amount of funding for initiative this year,” Anderson said of the $1,200 grant. “So that helped us get our numbers up. Although during routine patrols, I could definitely tell a difference in the traffic. It was during that time when the oil spill was just making news about heading our way, so people were really trying to get that last minute trip to the beach. Add to that it was Memorial Day weekend, that makes for a lot of traffic on the road.”