But what if you knew only metric? Then you would know those same (approximately) fuel consumption figures as 6 L/100 km, 9 L/100 km, and 12 L/100 km. Remember these, and any other fuel consumption figure can be related to it. European manufacturers are striving for a ’3 litre car’ – not 3 L in engine size, but fuel economy of 3 L/100 km. Compare that to the fuel figures above, and you can see it’s very economcal. But it all comes down to getting a feel for the numbers. Do that, and you don’t need imperial at all.

The South African program chose to have an easy conversion for the shilling (which became 10c) while the UK chose to retain the pound at the cost of a slightly awkward conversion for the shilling (which became 5p). This was much more user-friendly for the man-in-the-street. All the Commonwealth countries (apart from the United Kingdom) that adopted decimal coinage at the same time followed the South African model.

The South African Government took a very strong line on profiteering during the decimalisation changeover. The new coins and stamps were almost identical to the old while a rigid control was made on prices.

While the government of the day feared a total meltdown in popular confidence in our currency; the Treasury pushed on with an efficient campaign to inform the public.

Anybody who managed to adopt decimal currency ought to be able to adopt metric units; that happened in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. However, the pussyfooting approach of successive governments over the last 30 years has wasted the opportunity for change and squandered education.

The fact is that we use metric in much of our daily lives, from buying food and drink in kilograms or litres to measuring furniture in centimetres, and it is only in a few areas where imperial measurements still remain to the forefront. This does not make us ‘bilingual’, it merely means we have to squeeze in a half-understanding of some imperial measures into an otherwise metric world.

“Just ask a British person how far he lives from where he works and say that you are interested to know the distance in kilometres.”

I think very few Brits think metric in terms of distances (even if they do in other areas). Brits measure distances in miles because that’s what’s on the signs…

[This is probably true of miles (though not of metres, which are virtually interchangeable with yards). Presumably, the corollary is that if the signs were metric, people would soon adapt and start thinking in kilometres. - Editor]

That’s a simple one to answer.

Just ast a British person how far he lives from where he works and say that you are interested to know the distance in kilometres.

I think even most anti-metric folks in the UK will concede that the UK will convert road signs once the USA starts converting. It would be impractical and foolish-looking to remain the only country in the world (in that scenario) that has Imperial road signs.

However, the issue in that case has nothing to do with effects on trade. Commerce could still take place normally between a metric USA and a UK with Imperial road signs. Clearly, there are other issues involved that would push the UK in that scenario to convert road signs.

This is why I have my doubts about the cogency of the argument now being used by the EU to let the UK “off the hook” to set a date for conversion of road signs to metric. There are certainly arguments (which have been made by the UKMA) to convert road signs that have nothing to do with trade between EU countries. What a shame that those arguments have been ignored in order to avoid (I believe) a political “dust up” between Brussels and London.