[USMA:30273] Re: European directive includes kh/h road signs?

[MightyChimp]

The UK was given an opt out, that is why they are exempt.    Road sign conversion in the UK will be a very difficult thing to achieve.  It is really the last facet of British life that needs to be changed and once road signs are changed it will really drive home the reality that FFU is really dead.  As long as this one aspect remains, there is hope among the followers of FFU that FFU can (and will) experience a rebirth.    To prevent even the possibility of this area drifting towards metrication, as has been seen with the appearance of "illegal signs" despite the laws against them, the laws exist.  Even if the pubs were allowed to serve sizes other then pints, there would be a tendency to metricate even without a requirement to do so.  To prevent this drift, laws are in place to assure the continuation of the pint.   One would think the UKMA would try hard just to get the laws against metric in these areas removed.  And if a drift occurs, it proves that the British are not as pro-FFU as the BWMA would have us believe.   Euric     ----- Original Message ----- From: Ezra Steinberg To: U.S. Metric Association Sent: Thursday, 2004-07-01 16:22 Subject: [USMA:30269] European directive includes kh/h road signs? I looked up "metric" in the archives of the Irish Times and came across this article in February about the upcoming change-over to metric speed limit signs:   http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/motoring/2004/0211/1242286904MOT11LEAD.html   The bit that interested me the most was this:   "Metric speed limits are required by a 1980 European Council directive, which said that the use of different measurement systems hindered trade. At the time the Council agreed on a limited transition period."   Can anyone say precisely what this directive states and what the specifics of the limited transition period are? And why can the UK continue to use miles instead of kilometers?   Ezra