DRIVERS were caught speeding on almost 50,000 occasions in the past year - the equivalent of 132 times every day.
Speed cameras recorded motorists breaking the speed limit 48,346 times last year.
Almost 17,000 fixed penalty notices worth more than £1.08 million were issued to motorists as a result.
Speed cameras in Belfast, Ballymena and Derry clocked the most motorists breaking the speed limit.
A fixed camera on Belfast's Saintfield Road caught drivers speeding on more than 4,200 occasions during 2012.
The figures come after The Irish Newslast week revealed that drivers are routinely speeding at more than 100mph on northern roads, with the Frosses Road in Antrim regularly registering the fastest speeds.
One vehicle was caught speeding along the A8 in Larne, Co Antrim, at 113mph - double the maximum limit on the route.
The death toll on our roads this year is higher than the same period last year, with a crash near Ballymoney last week bringing the total number of fatalities to 21.
Road safety campaigners raised concerns over the low proportion of fixed penalties given out to speeding drivers in the north.
But the PSNI said almost 30,000 of motorists were told to attend "speed awareness" courses during 2012 while others were reported to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said drivers caught regularly speeding were at greater risk of causing death and injury on our roads.
"If a substantial proportion of drivers being caught by cameras are simply getting away with it then that would be a concern as drivers will be less likely to change their behaviour," he said.
A total of 16,814 fixed penalty notices for speeding were issued last year, according to figures obtained by The Irish News through a freedom of information request.
The equivalent of 132 drivers were caught speeding by cameras every day on roads in the north last year.
Motorists caught breaking the speed limit by a speed camera are issued with fixed penalty notices worth £60 and three penalty points.
Mr Clinton said the speeding figures showed the importance of camera enforcement in the north.
"Clearly there is still a high level of speeding on the roads. All the research and data shows that drivers who speed crash more often and they are more likely to kill or injure people," he said.
The continuing high death toll on our roads comes despite the Department of the Environment's (DoE) annual spend of about £1.5m on road safety advertisements.
An Oxford Economics study calculated that DoE advertising has saved 15,505 people from death and serious injury between 1995 and 2010.
1. Saintfield Rd, Belfast 4,232 [detections in 2012]
2. Antrim Rd, Belfast 4,199
3. Frosses/Crankill Rd, Ballymena 2,998
4. Dungiven Rd, Derry 2,527
5. Upper Newtownards Rd, Belfast 2,062
6. Culmore Rd, Derry 2,000
7. Shore Rd, Belfast 1,996
8. Ballyreagh Rd, Portrush 1,516
9. A2 Belfast to Bangor Rd 1,184
10. A1 Sprucefield 1,120
11. A8 Larne 1,073
12. Springfield Rd, Belfast 867
13. Glenshane Rd, Maghera 865
14. Foreglen Rd, Dungiven 768
15. Malone Rd, Belfast 686
