Sheriff’s Office deputies issued 194 tickets this weekend during a crackdown on speeders and seat belt violators in residential neighborhoods.

Were you one of the unlucky ones? Or are you one of those drivers who has slowed down and put safety first?

Phase II of the ongoing enforcement effort Operation Safe Streets sent deputies to 17 neighborhoods in east, west and north St. Tammany between peak traffic hours, 6 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 6 p.m. The campaign, launched in response to an overwhelming number of side-street speeding complaints, is designed to change driver behavior, Sheriff Jack Strain said. The first crackdown on March 20 netted 919 tickets after 50 deputies fanned out to target 25 neighborhoods.

On Saturday, those numbers plunged showing the enforcement may be working, Sheriff’s Office spokesman George Bonnett said.

East St. Tammany drivers in Pearl River and Slidell received the most tickets with 95, according to ticket data released by the Sheriff’s Office. Seventy-seven tickets were issued in west St. Tammany to drivers in Mandeville, Madisonville, Covington and Abita Springs. To the north, near Folsom and Bush, 22 drivers were ticketed.

The bottom line seems to be drivers are slowing down. Enforcement is helping; skyrocketing gas prices are helping.

For whatever reason drivers are slowing down, we thank you. There is no need to get in a hurry, and when we do we put too many other lives at risk.

For those who think this was a one-time affair and that they can put the pedal to the metal because the deputies went home, think again. Sheriff Strain is so serious about this project he will send out his deputies again July 30, Aug. 8 and Aug. 16 to catch those who cannot seem to slow down.

So be forewarned, and we urge everyone to slow down, not just during Operation Safe Streets, but every time you get into a car.