Jerry,
It is all part of the Very British Mess. When Britain adopted the metrication program, it was phased in such a way that road signs were the last to have been merticated. However when they were due to be metricated, the Government was running short of money, so they postponed it. Then Mrs Thatcher became Prime Minister and she dissolved the department that would have overseen the metrication. _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: 31 January 2009 05:39 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:42673] Re: Small item seen on TV Bill, The UK seems quite odd that it would go almost completely metric but leave a few instances such as Pat noted. Why not just go all of the way? Jerry _____ From: Bill Potts <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 11:23:18 PM Subject: [USMA:42653] Re: Small item seen on TV Someone already answered that, but I guess you missed it. There are small metric markers on UK roads, used by those who build and maintain the roads. All UK highway design and construction is in SI metric. Bill _____ Bill Potts W <http://wfpconsulting.com/> FP Consulting Roseville, CA http://metric1.org <http://metric1.org/> [SI Navigator] _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 18:59 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:42637] Re: Small item seen on TV Didn't someone say that all the road signs in the UK were still in miles? So what markers give km figures? Do you have both miles and km side by side in the UK? Jerry _____ From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 1:03:45 PM Subject: [USMA:42544] Re: Small item seen on TV Lol - Martin got his km figures from markers on the side of the motorway! (I will let him explain) I wholly disagree that people do 'speak metric', from 40 years experience. _____ Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:55:13 -0800 From: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:42540] Re: Small item seen on TV To: [email protected] Mike, >From your description I would understand it to be that metric is used everywhere but on road signs. But road signs must be both if Martin said he was 55.7 km from London or did he just do a conversion? So people do speak in metric and don't really need to have things dumbed down as some one put it earlier. Your comments about pilots in the US explains why the last time I flew in a plane, the pilot hesitated before saying the temperature. He must have been trying to translate it from what was on his screen. Jerry _____ From: Michael Payne <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 12:29:23 PM Subject: [USMA:42533] Re: Small item seen on TV I visit the UK perhaps 6-10 times a year, the people that I know in the UK tend to talk in meters/metres when referring to a new house size, etc. If you go into a UK hardware store it's almost all metric, supermarkets have gram scales, prices might be marked as pence/pound but normally pence/gram, it's weighed in grams. Fuel is sold in liters, road signs are all in miles and miles per hour but all road work is done in meters. In general it seems like a big mess which is why here in the US we need to do it differently, Australian/New Zealand and South Africa did a very good transition in the 60's and 70's. Most young people in those countries don't know non metric units. I'm a pilot, when I fly into the UK the atmospheric pressure is in hPa, the visibility is in meters, the runway length is in meters/feet. Temperature is Celsius, it's also Celsius for all pilots in the US. Call 703 661 2990 here in the US to listen to the weather pilots get at my local airport. Mike Payne ----- Original Message ----- From: Jeremiah MacGregor <mailto:[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 25 January 2009 17:16 Subject: [USMA:42529] Re: Small item seen on TV When you say the UK is bi, do you mean they use both metric and English equally,? 50 % ? Or is there more of a leaning towards one or the other? How are both use equally without causing confusion? Say for instance in the medical field. Would a doctor speak metric and a nurse respond in English? It must make for some strange communications. Jerry _____ From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 11:40:08 AM Subject: [USMA:42515] Re: Small item seen on TV Because the UK is not metric (it's 'bi') and in the case of tyre pressures there are not laws forcing the use of metric. _____ Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:00:18 -0800 From: [email protected] Subject: Re: [USMA:42494] Re: Small item seen on TV To: [email protected]; [email protected] Stephen, I interpreted the statement to mean that bar and kPa were the most common. It doesn't mean the is no psi, it just means it isn't very common. If the UK is metric then why would psi dominate and not kPa? Jerry _____ From: Stephen Humphreys <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 10:27:02 AM Subject: [USMA:42494] Re: Small item seen on TV Except in the UK (which is part of Europe) where PSI dominates. Maybe you meant "Mainland Europe" _____ From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [USMA:42439] Re: Small item seen on TV Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:22:34 +0000 The most common units of measure for tyre pressures in Europe are bars or kPa. (100 kPa = 1 bar). _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: 24 January 2009 14:59 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:42430] Re: Small item seen on TV Harry, Aren't they suppose to be in pascals or something along that line? Jerry _____ From: Harry Wyeth <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 11:39:58 PM Subject: [USMA:42388] Small item seen on TV A minor point of interest: on PBS's US broadcast of the BBC World News tonight, in a piece re the resumption of natural gas to Europe, there was "footage" showing close-ups of presssure gauges on pipeline fixtures out in the snowy fields. One showed pressure in kg/cm2, and the other in "bar". HARRY WYETH _____ Share your photos with Windows Live Photos - Free Find <http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/132630768/direct/01/> out more! _____ Windows Live Hotmail just got better. Find out more! <http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/windowslive/products/hotmail.aspx> _____ Share your photos with Windows Live Photos - Free Try it Now! <http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/windowslive/products/messenger.aspx>
