MALAYSIA?S Road and Transport Department (RTD) and police collected about RM8m ($3.5m) million in traffic fines from Singapore motorists in the past three
years.

The RTD Putrajaya said all these were from the Automated Vehicle Screening System (AVSS), the Weekend Mail reported.

The AVSS, installed in Johor at entry and exit points between Malaysia and Singapore, records the registration numbers of cars as they enter the country.

If the vehicle has an outstanding summons, the system will trigger an alert when the same vehicle tries to exit Malaysia. It will then be detained and the driver asked to settle the summons before continuing his journey, the statement said.

The offender is given a 45-day grace period to settle the summons.

At the entry points, two AVSS units are placed at Tambak Johor, two at Tanjung Puteri and four at the Second Link. At the exit points, there are 12 at Tambak Johor, four at Tanjung Puteri and four at the Second Link.

The system, introduced in April 2004, has been installed only in Johor to detect outstanding traffic summonses issued to Singaporean vehicles.