Road Signs: Time to change to Metric?

[mattytowel]

On Friday my padawan (aged 20) was working on a drawing from the Dark Side, (it was 10 am in Haydock, so 5am and dark in Colorado).

Rather than muck about with his calculator and risk errors, I told him to draw the part using the numbers on the drawing (imperialist units), and then later we'd scale it up.

I was pleased to find that he didn't know how many millimeters were in an inch.

20 years ago, when I was a draffy I was working on some chassis and nothing fitted together. All the hole pitches that had been worked on by a previous temp were about 4% smaller than they should be. Eventually I deduced that they were 0.964 of what they should be, which is about 24.5 divided by 25.4.

I'd choose metric all the time, it annoys me that people and my Volvo quote mpg, when I've never in my life bought a gallon of fuel.

[Marty Dolomite]

Road signs are in miles, motorway countdown signs (blue sign with white stripes before slip roads) are in yards and marker posts (those small white plastic things with red and blue band and a numbers on) are spaced 100 metres apart so if you know how to read them they are in KM!

It would cost the UK millions ££££'s to have speedos and road signs changed to Euro, next step will be the introduction of the Euro currency which will not only cost millions but feck this country up even more.

[johnjp]

In New South Wales you buy lager in a middy (285 ml) or schooner (425 ml) and the maximum speed limit is 110 'clicks' (km/hr) and fuel consumption is litres per 100kms (a lot easier to compute).
One interesting thing about motorways in UK, at least the ones I use, the M20,23,25 & 26, is that you will not see a sign indicating the maximum permissible speed for each vehicle category!
I grew up in Australia and UK. In the '70s I worked in a timber yard in Sussex where all timber was sold in metric equivalents ie 6' = 1.8m. That really ****ed off the builders because 1.8m is actually 70.9, over 1" shorter so the quantity surveyor would have to buy a 2.1m length which is almost 7'!
My vote is definitely for metric.

[johnjp]

Originally Posted by Marty Dolomite

Road signs are in miles, motorway countdown signs (blue sign with white stripes before slip roads) are in yards and marker posts (those small white plastic things with red and blue band and a numbers on) are spaced 100 metres apart so if you know how to read them they are in KM!

It would cost the UK millions ££££'s to have speedos and road signs changed to Euro, next step will be the introduction of the Euro currency which will not only cost millions but feck this country up even more.

We already have a metric currency so why would we replace £terling with the Euro!?

[Bill_56]

Originally Posted by johnjp

We already have a metric currency so why would we replace £terling with the Euro!?

And what a wonderful example that (the metric currency) is of why metrification is sometimes folly.

The main justification of metric currency seems to be that it co-incides with the number of fingers on (most) humans. But we rarely exchange fingers when bartering for goods, we exchange coins. And the coinage of Pounds shillings pence, on the other hand, excelled on sheer mathematical elegance.

Try dividing a 'metric' £1 nowadays equally between three people, it can't be done in any sane coinage. But in £LSD it was simple, exactly 6s/8d each. In fact, the £1 could be shared equally between 2,3,4,5,6 or 8. But hang on, 7 and 9 are missing, so it wasn't perfect. But then there was the guinea so perfection after all. What a tragedy we let all that go.

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by johnjp

In the '70s I worked in a timber yard in Sussex where all timber was sold in metric equivalents ie 6' = 1.8m.

I've always thought that has to be the greatest bit of 'Englishness', we'll go metric if we have to but we'll still do everything in metric equivalents of the proper measures, or do timber yards in metric countries work in 0.3m multiples?

[Harvey1512]

Metric - Pure stubbornness that we stay with imperial measures. Little island mentality.

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by Bill_56

The main justification of metric currency seems to be that it co-incides with the number of fingers on (most) humans. But we rarely exchange fingers when bartering for goods, we exchange coins.

Dozens (12) work perfectly if you actually look at your fingers, each finger is jointed and has three parts, using our opposable thumbs its quite possible to count to 12 on your fingers -
thumb to tip of little finger = 1
thumb to middle of little finger =2
thumb to base of little finger = 3
thumb to tip of ring finger =4
mid ring f =5
base ring f = 6
etc
it becomes quite natural after a few tries.

The difference is between Romans counting fingers I, hands V, both hands X, which gives us the decimal system, or the arabic use of one hand to count 12. With a more modern understanding of mathematics it would make more sense if we counted in 6s so 1= 1finger, 2=2 fingers, 5=5 fingers, 6=0fingers on the first hand and 1finger on the second hand, conveniently written as 10. (or if we use the arabic system of 12 to a hand we could count in 13s allowing us to count to 169 with just two hands!)

[GMad]

OK first of all who would pay for all the changes that would be required to all the road signage, yup that's right, we the tax payer. So on that premise alone, no thanks.
Now I was taught at school (many moons ago) in Imperial, during the course of my professional life (I'm an Engineer), I use both Imperial and Metric, thus rendering myself, adaptable.
Finally fellow petrol heads, being adaptable is not something that is exclusive to Engineers, you all are.
Your respective cars have wheels and tyres that have a Metric width and an Imperial diameter. Likewise your spark plugs have a Metric thread, with an Imperial reach and there are many other parts of your car that employ both metric and imperial measurement. This happens across Engineering in most, if not all industries.
Us Brits have the talent and ability to use both forms of measurement, simultaneously as it is, so given that the UK and indeed the Planet is a bit skint at the moment, lets save money and leave things the way they are

[Paddler Ed]

Originally Posted by tt82

Those points only convince me more that your arguements are wrong.

I want a pint of beer/milk, not 0.568l!
I want a 1/4lb burger, not a 113 gram burger!
I want a 1/4 mile drag race, not a 402 meter race.

And time isn't metric! 60 secs in a min, 60 min in a hour and 24 hours in a day. That's easy enough to understand! Likewise with co-ordinates.

Time works to the base 12; 60 also has the peculiarity of being the first number that is divisible between 2,3,4,5 and 6 (and by implication 10,12,15 and 20)

Coordinates are worked out in Degrees, minutes and seconds when referring to Latitude and Longitude, but if dealing with an Ordnance Survey Grid Reference it's based around a metric measurement in the following way:

100km square = 2 letter code (which bypasses a figure that is shown in feint type when the easting or northing is 0 on a paper map)
10km square = 2 figure GR
1km sq = 4 figure GR
100m sq = 6 figure GR
10m sq = 8 figure GR
1 m sq = 10 figure GR
10cm sq = 12 figure GR

Going back on topic I'd prefer to have a metric system for road signage.

I think that if we changed speed limits to KM/H we'd end up with the following:

20mph = 30kmh (2 mph slower)
30mph = 50kmh (1 mph faster)
40mph = 60kmh (3 mph slower)
50mph = 80kmh (no difference)
60mph = 100kmh (2 mph faster)
70mph = 120kmh (4 mph faster)

The other benefit is that we would then be able to have a new speed limit option at 70km, 90kmh and 110kmh which would allow some areas may be able to run a little faster but not as fast as the old spacing. Overall the speeds would be a little faster, but on some key ones for urban areas they would be slower.