I’m also wondering if there are any Lib-Dem members of the government who are more open-minded about this sort of thing and can be appealed to.

I am curious because of this story about problems with over-height vehicles in Surrey:
http://www.surreyherald.co.uk/surrey-news/news-surrey/2011/08/08/make-sign-eu-friendly-to-stop-stuck-lorries-86289-29197661/

Local resident’s suggestion is the article title and says it all, “Make sign EU-friendly to stop stuck lorries.”

I am surprised by the town’s cavalier attitude and wonder if the law never changed, they don’t know or care about the new requirement, or if they are allowed to delay complying for a while. The town has a problem and could easily fix it but instead prefers the position snipped from the article:
==============================================
Jean Parry, who has lived near the bridge for 10 years, believes the problem is getting progressively worse.

She said: “It is on a daily basis, twice daily sometimes, and the police are called frequently. Surrey highways said the signs comply with legislation but the big problem is that a lot of the drivers are foreign and they don’t know what it means in imperial measurements.

“I said ‘can’t you put up a sign saying three metres?’ and Surrey said their signs are already compliant with legislation.”
==============================================

The opinion of young people varies but they are generally conscious of the disparity between what they are taught in school and what they encounter outside the classroom. They have grown up with imperial road signs and have adapted to them. They may not have any appetite for the change if they don’t value their education especially in mathematics and science.

This gives the lie to the broad assumption by the DfT that the mental preparedness will take care of itself as new generations of drivers populate our roads.

Putting this figure of £3 million in the context of Government expenditure, I noted this in today’s London Evening Standard:

“£2 million cost of delay of house sale
The Government’s delay in selling the Belgravia house last occupied by David Blunkett could cost taxpayers £2 million. Mr Blunkett was forced to resign in 2005 but stayed in the house until 2007.”

And, as Robin pointed out in the “Today” programme, the metric signs will cover their costs by reducing damage to bridges and delays to rail passengers and other road users.

“Our road sign metric transition was similar to the one in Canada except that a Sunday was chosen so we could do things in daylight. For several months beforehand, new signs were put up and covered with a sort of hessian sacking material. All that had to happen on the Sunday (1974 June 1) was to remove the sacking and take away the old signs.

The whiners (called whingers here) had a lovely time with conjectures describing bloodshed on all of our roads – but like their other conjectures these had no basis in fact, in history, or in reality. To quote from the report, Metrication in Australia:
Despite suggestions by people opposed to metrication that ignorance of the meaning of metric speeds would lead to slaughter on the roads, such slaughter did not occur.”

Pat Naughtin writes from Australia:

“It is interesting to note that changing all road signs in an entire nation can be done in a day – that’s right – in a single day.

It all depends on the method you choose. Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and Ireland chose successful methods largely by copying each other’s successes. They all chose to change to metric only signs and the job done in a day was the result.

Others have chosen other methods based on simple conjectures or prejudices. The UK chose two methods that have proved to be unsuccessful so far:

1. Design, build, and repair roads all in metric measures while you provide the public with signs based on the metric inch, the metric foot, the metric yard, and the metric mile that were all defined in metric terms in 1959. This truth was hidden from the UK people by an arbitrary decision made at the time of the Thatcher government – it was based on a simple political prejudice that was encapsulated in the phrase ‘WE have saved the pint and the mile for Britain’.

2 ‘Dual signs are good for educating the public’ is an interesting conjecture that, as far as I can find, has no basis in fact and no precedent in history. It is simply a false conjecture that has always proved to be false wherever its application has been attempted.

These two thought have led to the current situation in the UK. They began to use this prejudice and this conjecture in about 1965 and there are many who still support them even despite their obvious failure after 44 years – so far – and with many more years still to come!

Remember that the alternative is to look at a nation that has made the upgrade in a single day and copy the successful methods that they chose to use.”

You can contact Pat at pat.naughtin@metricationmatters.com, or to get the free ‘Metrication Matters’ newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe.

John Frewen-Lord writes from Canada, adding to his earlier comment on this topic:

“Canada converted all its speed limit signs in one night. Went to bed, signs were in mph. Woke up next morning, all were in km/h. The stick on solution was used – very cheap, very fast, and very effective. Most lasted until they needed to be replaced for other reasons.

When you consider Canada’s vastness, and the fact that every road has speed limit signs by the million (roads 60 km/h and under by law have to have signs every 500 m [exception - blanket '50 km/h unless signed otherwise' signs when entering a metropolis], while those roads over 60 km/h had to be signed every 1 km, including freeways), this was quite some achievement.”