On 9 December 1970, the Minister for Transport Industries John Peyton announced that the Government have decided that speed limits will not be made metric in 1973 and have no alternative date in mind. Why did the Government scrap the metrication of speed limits? Historical government documents give various reasons for scrapping the planned conversion. This article will show some of these documents, which reveal the reasons the Government gave for its decision.
Continue reading “Why the Government scrapped plans to convert UK speed limit signs to km/h in 1970”Author: Ronnie Cohen
Government cost estimates to convert all UK speed limit signs to km/h in 1970 were far below £30 million in today’s money
The British Government once developed and examined proposals to change all UK speed limit signs from miles per hour to kilometres per hour in the 1960’s and in 1970. On 9 December 1970, the Minister for Transport Industries John Peyton announced that the proposed metrication of speed limit signs would not go ahead and was postponed indefinitely. The proposed change to metric speed limits was due to be implemented in 1973. Fifty years have now passed since then. Half a century later, UK speed limit signs are still in imperial units. The Department for Transport (DfT) now claims that metricating UK road signs costs too much. However, it would have cost little to convert all UK road signs to metric units according to cost estimates by the Department of the Environment (DoE), which had responsibility for transport at the time, according to historical government documents held at the National Archives.
Continue reading “Government cost estimates to convert all UK speed limit signs to km/h in 1970 were far below £30 million in today’s money”Weights and measures were absent from today’s King’s Speech
Today, King Charles III read out the King’s Speech, which describes the Government’s legislative programme for the year ahead. The House of Lords briefing published on 1 November 2023 raised the possibility that the Government might revive their plans to bring back imperial units. It came as a huge sigh of relief to metrication campaigners, including UKMA, that there were no references to weights and measures in the King’s Speech. They were also absent from the Prime Minister’s briefing on the King’s Speech. So, what can we expect from the Government on future measurement policy?
Continue reading “Weights and measures were absent from today’s King’s Speech”Return of imperial units may appear in King’s Speech 2023 according to House of Lords briefing
The House of Lords briefing on the King’s Speech 2023 was published on 1 November 2023. It included a section on imperial units, which suggests that the Government may pursue the restoration of imperial units as part of their legislative programme during the next year. Despite facing considerable opposition to their plans to bring back imperial units during the last year, they are prepared to disregard public opinion and the views of key stakeholders to impose their plans to restore imperial units and entrench the British measurement mess. Why do they think they will succeed this time when they failed last time?
Continue reading “Return of imperial units may appear in King’s Speech 2023 according to House of Lords briefing”Why Progress uses dual measurements in their sample applications
Progress Software Corporation (Progress) is a multinational company that provides software for developing and deploying business applications. I came across one of their sample applications that uses dual temperature measurements and wondered why it uses two temperature scales when one would be enough. I asked Progress about this. Read on to find out their response to my query.
Continue reading “Why Progress uses dual measurements in their sample applications”How can we get rid of the EU bogeyman to clear path for metrication?
The fight to keep the imperial system and resist the growing role of the metric system in the UK has been erroneously seen as the plucky British underdog gaining victory over the European bully. This is how metrication issues are reported in populist national newspapers. Hence the growing hostility to the European Union has come in tandem with growing hostility to the metric system. Many wrongly believe the myth that the metric system has been imposed on the UK by the EU. The EU is seen as the villain or bogeyman in the metrication process in the twenty-first century. How can we demolish the EU bogeyman to clear the path for the completion of metrication in the UK?
Continue reading “How can we get rid of the EU bogeyman to clear path for metrication?”Why are the authorities afraid to tackle law breaking by imperialists?
Last month, there were reports about vigilantes damaging ULEZ cameras in London and 20 mph speed limit signs in Wales. These incidents were widely reported in the British media. By contrast, the media ignore a group of imperial vigilantes who take the law into their own hands and deface, damage and remove metric signs. They also ignore market traders and small shops that price loose goods by the pound only (with no metric equivalent) in defiance of the Price Marking Order. Why are the authorities intimidated by them?
Continue reading “Why are the authorities afraid to tackle law breaking by imperialists?”Government misses project to benefit all from money saved by scrapping HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line
This week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line will be scrapped, saving £36 billion, in response to the soaring cost of building HS2. He has redirected the funding from building this line to projects in the North, Midlands and the rest of the country. However, he has left out one important transport project that would have benefited everyone in the country.
Continue reading “Government misses project to benefit all from money saved by scrapping HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line”Welsh road signs in 2022 cost small fraction of DfT estimates in cash terms despite 50% inflation since 2006 DfT metric conversion report
The total estimated cost for implementing the speed limit change from 30 mph to 20 mph, including the cost for changing signs and markings on roads, has been published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) undertaken by the Welsh Government on 20 mph speed limits. The published document gives a breakdown of road sign costs. These costs are several times lower than the Department for Transport (DfT) cost estimates of conversion of road traffic signs to metric units in cash terms despite 50% inflation during the 16-year period between the two reports.
Continue reading “Welsh road signs in 2022 cost small fraction of DfT estimates in cash terms despite 50% inflation since 2006 DfT metric conversion report”Cost is no barrier to rollout of 20 mph speed limit
For years, the DfT has given cost and diversion of funds from other parts of the transport budget as arguments against the metrication of UK road signs. While all kinds of arguments have been made for and against the reduction of the speed limit on local roads to 20 mph in London and Wales, I have not heard any opponents of the rollout of 20 mph speed limits say that it costs too much or that it diverts funds from other parts of the transport budget. This shows that the DfT arguments against changing road signs to metric units are bogus.
Continue reading “Cost is no barrier to rollout of 20 mph speed limit”
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