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It suddenly occurs to me that there was mention of
the safety issue in the brochures (and in other documents touching on
metrication in the UK that I've seen).
If safety really is an issue (and I concur that it
ought to be), then having a uniform posting of speed limits throughout the EU is
important. Many citizens of the EU community travel and drive in the UK, and
many UK residents travel to and drive in other member states. How can it be said
that leaving the UK as the only member state in the EU not to use metric speed
limits promotes road safety?
And if speed limits ought to be posted in
metric for that reason, then it makes little sense (even though this is not a
safety issue) to leave distance signs in Imperial. (Witness the confusion in
Ireland that resulted from the very same problem -- only the way
'round.)
Maybe the safety argument won't make much headway
with the appropriate EU governing bodies, but I like to think that may be an
angle to pursue.
Ezra
----- Original Message -----
From: Ezra Steinberg
Cc: Robin Paice ; Chris Keenan
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 10:19 AM
Subject: UK DTI brochures on the use of metric For those who may be interested in brochures that
reflect the official DTI thinking and guidance regarding the use of metric in
the UK, you can open this web page to find the appropriate links to various
documents in PDF format:
In reading one of them I caught sight again of
the exception for the use of Imperial units on road signs. I especially
note the emphasis in these documents that Imperial units can be used
without time limit. Given previous e-mails from the list that point out that the
derogation from using metric units on road signs apparently specifies (or
at least strongly implies) that the UK will in fact set a time limit for
conversion, this position on the part of the government seems to be in
conflict.
I gather from other postings that neither the
current government nor the EU authorities have any interest in raising this
issue. Does anyone have any more insight to offer on this issue from the
perspective of either the UK government or the European governing bodies? Is
there really no hope to gather pressure from the European side to complete the
changeover, particularly now that the conversion in Ireland leaves the UK as the
only member state in the EU not to use metric signage on the roads?
Cheers,
Ezra
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