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Conservative MP Sir Greg Knight has put forward a proposal to Transport Minister, John Hayes to turn off traffic lights on certain junctions at non busy times.

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I understand where he is coming from as I’m sure you do having spent what seems like ages stuck at a set of traffic lights with no other traffic about at all waiting for the lights to turn green. Apparently this isn’t as daft an idea as it might initially sound as it is fairly common in Europe. It saves electricity, it also saves fuel as drivers aren’t kept waiting at lights on tickover waiting for the lights to change.

I saw on our local news a few days ago that they were trialling such an idea in Reading town centre in order to keep busses flowing. The traffic lights were causing busses to bunch up so by the time the busses got out of the town passengers would see 2 or 3 busses all turn up together. By turning the traffic lights off at certain times it was found that busses were spread more evenly.

Whilst it might seem like a good idea Hayes has said that there are no immediate plans to switch off the traffic lights. So another good idea bites the dust! By Graham Hill

As the spec of new model year cars start to include DAB digital radios as standard the Government seems to be stalling over the final switch off date of analogue signals. The initial deadline was 2015 but culture minister, Ed Vaizey refused to provide a timeframe when asked during the recent Go Digital Conference in London.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Currently only 40% of new cars have DAB radios fitted as standard with the figure set to increase to 50% this year. The switchover will only take place when more than 50% of all broadcasts are digital, it currently stands at 35%. Mr Vaizey said, ‘I absolutely believe that the future of radio in this country is digital.

We cannot go back. We’re not there yet, so now is not the time to switch.’ How long have they had to get this sorted out? Piss ups and breweries spring to mind.

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• Ed Vaizey ‘won’t be pushed’ into digital radio switchover date (theguardian.com)

I reported recently on clocking, it would seem that others are reading my blogs as the Office of Fair Trading has issued a report that reveals there are more than 50 firms in the UK selling mileage correction (clocking) services. As a result they have called on the Government to act and close the loophole that enables these companies to quite legally reset a Read more »

There was a programme on the BBC on Thursday 25^th November called Rip-off Britain. In the first part a couple bought a used car that broke down within a few miles of driving it off the forecourt. This is clearly wrong and the buyer was entitled to his money back but it seemed that lack of assistance from Trading Standards meant that the buyer accepted what the dealer said and sold the car on at a loss. It’s a disgrace. The RMIF representative stated that there are 9 million used cars changing hands Read more »

Kwik-Fit are to carry out some major training programmes of staff following a recent BBC Watchdog report. They have said they are going to invest a further £1 million in training as a direct result of the allegations made by the BBC. They are to also increase their mystery shopper programme in an effort to identify and stop overselling by staff. The company is said to operate a zero tolerance policy in cases where Read more »

Buying a used car from a dealer? Then you should be more aware of your rights according to the Office of Fair Trading, who have reported that the number of complaints against dealers, for faults that have come to light within the first 3 months, has increased by 18% during the first half of 2010. The Office of Fair Trading Direct received over 38,000 complaints and, as Michele Shambrook of the OFT pointed out, ‘Most of the faults that come to light are the dealer’s responsibility.’ Had a bad used car experience when purchased from a car dealer, please let me know? By Graham Hill

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• Second-hand car complaints soar (bbc.co.uk)

Aren’t statistics fantastic? It would seem that statistics show that children brought up in wealthy neighbourhoods are less likely to die or get badly injured on UK roads. The statistics, prepared by Road Safety Analysis, compared accidents linking 0 – 15 year olds to the victims’ postcodes. The UK’s most dangerous area is Preston, Lancs. Here, children are twice as likely to be killed or injured than the National average or five times more likely than the safest area, Kensington and Chelsea in Read more »

We all know that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. And man’s best friend is a dog (don’t even go there). But apparently after my report last week that a number of drivers would give up sex rather than their cars (mind you the research was carried out in Canada) we now have research showing that drivers regard their cars as their best friend. I kid you not. It was announced on BBC’s Radio 4 – so it must be true! So Read more »

There has been an upsurge in companies known as claims management companies who claim to rid you of credit card and loan debt by claiming that contracts are ‘unenforceable’. In an investigation the BBC found that some firms were claiming very high success rates as high as 93% but when pushed could not provide evidence of anything like that. They were also accused of using misleading statements by Read more »

I’m not sure how useful this information is or what real conclusions can be drawn but I found it interesting so am passing it on. Under the Freedom of  Information Act the BBC obtained data regarding MOT failures and Business Car  analysed the figures to identify which cars had the highest pass rates and which cars had the highest fail rate. The statistics are based on 2004 registered cars that were MOT tested for the Read more »