Stephen Gallagher wrote:
Wasn't the risk of losing funding from the federal government
the reason that Washington was able to make each state raise
the legal drinking age to 21? Raise your drinking age, or lose
your federal highway funding.
Could they not use similar approach for changing roadway
signs to metric?
Absolutely.
If I'm not mistaken, a similar approach was used with the state of
Montana in regards to their speeding laws. Prior to the 55 MPH limit,
Montana's speed limit was "reasonable and prudent" during the day. The
fed didn't like it at all. Once the national limit was put in place,
Montana fought back by making a speeding ticket cost just $5 USD,
payable directly to the ticketing officer, with no points accumulating
on the driver's insurance record.
After the federal 55 MPH speed limit was removed, Montana did not have a
numeric speed limit, and soon returned to the phrase "reasonable and
prudent". There was absolutely federal pressure on the state to put in
a numeric limit, especially with the state's highways being known to
many US drivers as "The Montanabahn".
I highly doubt we'll see any state enact a full metric road sign
conversion without approval at the federal level.
-Mike
