HC Deb 29 February 1984 vol 55 c231W
Mr. Oakes

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce a ban on parking lights only on all moving vehicles during the hours of lighting-up.

Mrs. Chalker

No. Headlights often cause unnecessary glare under good street lighting and a ban on the use of sidelights would be unenforceable.

The dim-dip regulations will help to solve this problem by providing automatically an intermediate level of lighting, brighter and more conspicuous than sidelights but without the glare of headlights, whenever a vehicle is driven with only the sidelights switched on.

Mr. Oakes

asked the Secretary of State for Transport which countries in the European Economic Community require motor vehicles to be fitted with the dim-dip devices of the type required by the Motor Vehicle (Dim/Dip Lighting Devices) Regulations 1983, S.I. No. 1859.

Mrs. Chalker

None at present, but there is considerable interest in the potential of dim-dip devices to solve a problem which is experienced in towns and cities throughout Europe.

Mr. Oakes

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total estimated annual cost to the British motor car manufacturing industry arising from the implementation of the Motor Vehicle (Dim/Dip Lighting Devices) Regulations 1983, S.I. No. 1859.

Mrs. Chalker

Vehicle and component manufacturers have told us that additional production costs of the dim-dip system will be around £1.50 per vehicle. Last year nearly 1 million British-produced motor vehicles were sold in the United Kingdom. On that basis, the total annual additional production costs for British motor vehicle manufacturers will be around £1.5 million.