A British driver in France has been stripped of his driver licence after misreading a 125 km/h speed limit sign for 125 mph. This is not the first time that miles and kilometres have been confused when reading speed limits. Back in January 2021, Metric Views reported a similar case of a high-profile foreign Premier League footballer who confused km/h and mph when driving in the UK. And it is unlikely to be the last time it happens.
Continue reading “British driver caught speeding in France after misreading km/h for mph”Tag: traffic signs
Government once admitted that road signs cannot remain imperial in a metric world
Official government documents from the early 1970’s stated that road signs cannot remain imperial while the rest of the UK goes metric. One of these documents is an official letter from the Ministry of Transport (MOT), as the Department for Transport (DfT) was then called. Would you believe it? Compare that with the current attitude of the DfT today, which directly contradicts the admission in the MOT letter.
Continue reading “Government once admitted that road signs cannot remain imperial in a metric world”Gibraltar is far ahead of UK on metric road signs
I came back from a short trip to Gibraltar one week ago and noticed that all their road signs were metric. The only imperial units I saw on road signs there were on dual-unit restriction signs. Many showed metres only, but none showed only feet and inches. Gibraltar road signs are almost exclusively metric with only limited use of imperial units, the mirror image of the UK situation.
Continue reading “Gibraltar is far ahead of UK on metric road signs”The other victory UKMA won in the end
The previous article describes how weights and measures legislation was saved from the axe by changes to the REUL Bill. There was another important victory that has also been won by UKMA with the help of powerful stakeholders though it took years to win. UKMA spent years fighting the Department for Transport before the battle to make metres mandatory on restriction signs was eventually won.
Continue reading “The other victory UKMA won in the end”Odd British Measurement Usage in the Transport Sector
Some aspects of measurement usage in the British transport sector appear to be uniquely British with no known parallel across the whole world. The British really are out of step with the modern world when it comes to transport measurements. The British transport sector is one of the last imperial bastions in the UK thanks to DfT policies.
Continue reading “Odd British Measurement Usage in the Transport Sector”
Metric Views 