SINGAPORE - The Traffic Police (TP) will deploy a new speed laser camera at 44 speeding hot spots from Thursday (May 19).

This is the first time the cameras have been upgraded since speeding enforcement operations started in 2004.

The new cameras can capture higher resolution images, work better in low light conditions and have double the battery life of eight hours, said TP. They also have the ability to capture video.

TP's deputy commander Devrajan Bala called the new cameras a "game changer".

The new cameras are the latest effort by the TP to curb the scourge of speeding. Statistics show accidents caused by speeding fell to 1,197 last year from 1,363 in 2014.

The TP have attributed this decline to the new technology they have deployed on the roads to nab speedsters.

In recent years, the TP have replaced their ageing film cameras on the roads to digital ones, and deployed mobile speed cameras, which can be taken down and set up quickly, at speeding hot spots.

But the number of injuries and fatal accidents involving speeding vehicles has gone up. Last year, there were 8,021 injury accidents, up almost 3 per cent from 7,809 cases in 2014.

The number of fatal speeding accidents rose to 48 last year, from 43 in 2014.