A story from the BBC

Drivers catch green lights 'wave'

The government aims to cut road transport CO2 emissions. Motorists should face fewer red lights following the relaxation of government guidance on the flow of traffic. Local councils can adopt "green wave" systems of sensors, where vehicles at or just below the speed limit trigger a succession of green lights. Environmental and motoring groups say carbon emissions will be reduced.

Previously the Department for Transport (DfT) had discouraged the systems which reduce fuel use, resulting in less tax being paid to the Treasury. But now, rather than seeing green wave systems as a "cost" to the public purse, the DfT views them as a "benefit".

Ha! Just as we always suspected. That pesky fuel duty, that, togather with VAT, makes up about 75% of the cost of the petrol that we pay at the pump, has nothing to do with environmental protection. No, it seems the DfT wanted us to drive as aggressively as possible in order to use as much petrol as we could to generate as much tax as possible for the Treasury.