Changing road signs can only be a small part of metrication. What about the
speedometers, odometers, driver training, federal and state traffic
regulations, statements of the heights of tractor trailers in meters so the
drivers will understand the meters-only clearance signs that will replaces the
ones that now read in feet? If there are jobs to be held for metrication, they
will be created in many areas of our lives, and each metric transition must be
coordinated with the others. There will be jobs in signage, sure, but there
will also be jobs in writing new regulations, jobs providing metric training,
jobs in designing new products or changes in old products. Once the Nation's
leadership makes the decision to go metric, all of these things will follow,
e.g., there would be a DOT requirement that, by a certain date, all vehicles
made in the U.S. will display speedometers that read in kilometers per hour
only, and odometers that accumulate kilometers only. Metrication is all or
nothing. It's a life process; a living thing.
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian J White
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: 15 February, 2009 22:29
Subject: [USMA:43020] Re: More companies primed to pounce on metric-only
labeling
What gets me about sign changing, is...whatever happened to the DOT
requirement that cars must be sold with both km/h and mph on the speedo?
Mercedes over the past 3-4 years seems to be getting away without it...they
are mph only it looks like.
I know GM has numbers only with a legend that switches between mph and km/h,
but the Mercedes cars look to be mph only all the time. Makes for a suck time
when driving to Canada I'm sure.
My wife's old Honda Civic (I hated that car.) had both mph and km/h markings,
but only MPH illuminated at night. Talk about a bozo design feature right
there..... I tried to talk you out of the Honda again Nat, but to no avail.
:)
At 19:36 2009-02-15, STANLEY DOORE wrote:

The NIST has drafted legislation to provide for metric only product
labeling. If Congress would pass it and the President sign it, there would be
a great move to go all metric.
If ALL people would contact their Congressional representatives, then
perhaps something would happen. No single organization can do it alone.
However, most companies want to go metric and many already have gone metric
like the auto industry has.
With the current stimulus bill recently passed and it's called a jobs
bill, it would be appropriate to have all road signs changed to metric very
quickly.
Stan Doore
