MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Grants totaling $127,029 will be used to improve highway safety and encourage the use of seatbelts in southwest Alabama.

Gov. Robert Bentley awarded two grants totaling $75,874 for Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties, and two grants totaling $51,155 for law enforcement agencies in Choctaw, Conecuh, Clarke, Dallas, Marengo, Monroe, Washington and Wilcox counties.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is the administrator of the grants made possible through National Highway Administration funding, according to a press release submitted by Bentley.

The grants will enable police, deputies and state troopers to increase their presence on Alabama roads and enforce highway during the “Click It or Ticket” seatbelt campaign now under way and during other peak travel periods later in the year.

The grants will help pay overtime wages for officers and enable law enforcement agencies to establish checkpoints and patrols to ensure motorists are obeying traffic laws. Most of the increased enforcement will occur around holidays when more motorists are on the roads.