Offramp wrote on 10 February 2013 01:32:40 ...
So you think, "A set of lights have failed," is good English?

Yes, and it's not just me, or some new fashion. Look up any book on
English grammar from the last 100 years and you'll see that the advice
is that collective nouns like "set" may be followed by a singular or
plural verb.

If you've seen contrary advice, please provide a reference.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)