On Tue, 12 Mar 2002 07:43:47 -0800 (PST), cellular qwerty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>--- kilopascal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>On another note, what is being done to amend >>the laws to allow metric road signs and even >>to begin a final conversion from miles to >>kilometres? > >Revision of national regulations is at draft stage: > >Dual imperial/metric signs are being introduced for >height and weight signs. They are only optional and >imperial only signs will still be permitted. The >stated reason for dual signs is because goods vehicle >drivers from mainland Europe need metric information >to be able to avoid bridges etc. The logical argument >does not appear to be extended beyond that point to >speed and distances. > >There are no plans to extend metrication beyond height >and weight signs. The reply received from the Minister in response to Lord Howe's letter (prompted by the UKMA) was as follows: VANDALISM OF METRIC TRAFFIC SIGNS Thank you for your letter of 20 December, enclosing correspondence from Mr Roderick Urquhart of 10 Pitts Lane, Andover, on behalf of the Roads Working Group of the UK Metrication Association. The current Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 1994, which prescribe the design and purposes of signs on roads to which the public have access, including footpaths, specify that distances must be shown in miles, fractions of a mile or yards, and speed limits must be shown in miles. There is no ambiguity about this. Various changes to signs have already been made over the years to take account of the switch to metric units in regulations governing the weight, construction and use of vehicles. We are now considering the responses to our recent consultation on draft revised Traffic Signs Regulations, which would include a sign showing width restrictions in both metric and imperial units as well as the one already used for height restrictions, and remove the need for separate imperial and metric signs. We have received representations both for and against further metrication. There is currently no evidence that the use of signs with imperial units is leading to accidents. The available data suggest that most collisions with low bridges involve British registered vehicles whose drivers have failed to measure the height of their load properly or whose concentration has lapsed, not Continental-registered vehicles, which are constructed to comply with the height restrictions in force in other EU countries. I am sending a copy of this reply to Peter Hain, Charles Clarke and Melanie Johnson at DTI. Chris
