It is obvious that the US just wants to be different. The persons who designed the sign may have a personal problem with adopting something "foreign". America has a superiority complex. Adopting something foreign makes Americans feel less superior and that is a situation that just can not be tolerated.
Euric ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Gallagher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 2004-09-05 09:05 Subject: [USMA:31018] Re: Irish speed limit signs > > > The FHWA has indeed adopted a speed limit sign > > *similar* to the > > international standard. The idea was to distinguish > > the metric speed limit > > sign from the non-metric one. The disappointing > > aspect is that the circle > > is black rather than red. > > > > > > > > > http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003/part2/fig2b-01_longdesc.htm > > > > Originally, the circle was going to be red, > but they changed it, because someone made > the suggestion that the colour red was > representative of something that was > prohibited rather than allowed. > > When I saw that the colour was going to be > red, I was very happy since it not only showed > a migration to metric, but also it was > more like the international speed limit > sign. The change was disappointing. > > Stephen >
