Road Signs: Time to change to Metric?

[Saaamon]

What makes me laugh is people using imperial and metric at the same time, e.g asking the builders merchant for a sheet of 11mm 8x4.

[CTCNetwork]

Hi,

Maybe we should go metric. Just as soon as America starts to speak English?
Or as soon as the rest of europe adopts English as the first language?

Des. . .

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Saaamon

What makes me laugh is people using imperial and metric at the same time, e.g asking the builders merchant for a sheet of 11mm 8x4.

That is because the manufacturers did not renew the molds so the old 8x4 feet remained but they could alter the setting of the press so that went metric and 3/8" became 9mm and 1/2" became 12mm etc. Of course it was a chance to save a bit on materials so it was rounded down not up.

All building materials are approximate sizes, there will be signs saying so all over the place, surprisingly2.4 metres will always be just under not over in my eexperience.

Paul.

[960kg]

Haven`t read the whole thread but being a retired Joiner/ Builder i started life with Imperial but soon went to metric. It is correct to say that one should use one or the other when conferring but myself having a head for numbers when i had to go 100yards from my bench to the woodcutting machines it is far easier to remember whole numbers rather than 1/16ths or 1/8ths when the nearest whole number my be just 200mm rather than 7 7/8ths....so i may need to cut my piece of ply 200mm x 12" and not 7 7/8 x 12"

The main thing is Metric is written or said in Centimetres eg: 31.0 and NOT Millimetres 300 when in another country it is only us that has to be different......when working with the French or whatever you realise how stupid we really are...

Measuring tapes or rulers are all in Centimetres

One last thing, the road signs, 1000 metres to the next exit ......how far is that? we cannot reason how far that is as we have always had miles. Those that know 1093.613 metres is a mile will have a better idea.

........or one metre is all the "F`ssssss.........free foot free and free eighths...


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[Proghound]

Originally Posted by 960kg

One last thing, the road signs, 1000 metres to the next exit ......how far is that? we cannot reason how far that is as we have always had miles. Those that know 1093.613 metres is a mile will have a better idea.

Those people will still be surprised when the exit comes up just 6/10ths of a mile later! Hope they've got their eyes open and take the exit anyway.

Actually 5/8ths of a mile would be more accurate, but car odometers don't measure in 1/8ths.

A mile is 1609.344 metres. 1093.613 is the number of yards in a kilometer.

[Harvey1512]

I have just spent a week driving in Italy. They had km, metres and other such things. Despite all warnings my head did not explode, I was able to function whilst driving. Who'd have thought it possible.

(For those struggling, 1,000m is two and a half times around an athletics track. Something most of us would have had to have run around whilst at school. Not actually that tricky after all to work out)

[960kg]

Originally Posted by Proghound

A mile is 1609.344 metres. 1093.613 is the number of yards in a kilometer.

I could not of been a better example of misunderstandings with Metric...Lol

I forgot while i was working it out 1000mtrs = 1093.613yards and not miles.

Originally Posted by Harvey1512

I have just spent a week driving in Italy. They had km, metres and other such things. Despite all warnings my head did not explode, I was able to function whilst driving. Who'd have thought it possible.

(For those struggling, 1,000m is two and a half times around an athletics track. Something most of us would have had to have run around whilst at school. Not actually that tricky after all to work out)

I am that old our track was in yards...

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by 960kg

I could not of been a better example of misunderstandings with Metric...Lol...

Well this is a pretty good example, and somebody had it made into a sign and bolted it to a bridge..





13foot equals 3.96m, which is why a 4m lorry will not fit under it

apologies for the large image sizes I haven't got the facilities to shrink them.





http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/nort...lunder-9493140

[850Chris]

Crikey!

Who's insurance will that one be on I wonder?

[RobertP]

It may be different now but when I drove in Germany in the 1970's road signs gave distances in metres not kilometres. So the next exit was posted as '500m', which to me meant a very long way away!