Hundreds of new zones across the country will soon be monitored by speed cameras, gardaí have announced.

The number of locations targeted by speed camera vans will increase to over 1,000 from next Friday.

The decision to track speeds at 355 new zones comes after detailed analysis of collisions on the road network. Around 700 sites are already regularly observed by cameras.

The number of fatal collisions in monitored areas has fallen from 31% to 14% since 2010, gardaí said.

GoSafe, the company contracted to operate the camera vans, provides a minimum of 7,375 hours of speed enforcement and 100 hours of surveying per month, as directed by the force. 

An average of one person is detected to be over the speed limit every hour, according to gardaí.

Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid said: "Safety cameras are proven life savers and only operate in areas which have a speed-related collision history where fatal, serious injury and now minor injury collisions occur.

"By identifying and targeting these high risk areas, our aim is to continue to reduce the number and severity of collisions, save more lives and prevent more injuries from occurring."

The location of all enforcement zones, including the 355 new ones, can be found on the garda website here.