Category Archives: Transport

End Britain’s Great Imperial Rip-Off

In these uncertain times, the spending power of the pound in our pockets seems to be decreasing by the day, making it high time, in my view, to end the Great Imperial Rip-Off, and save British consumers from the cost … Continue reading

Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, Health, Transport | 16 Comments

Metric campaigners unimpressed by poll findings

The UK Metric Association dismissed as “unrepresentative and old hat” the findings of an AA/Populus panel, showing that a large majority of AA members are opposed to metric road signs in the UK. (This press release was issued for use … Continue reading

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | 29 Comments

All distances on London pedestrian signs to be shown in “minutes”

According to Legible London, an initiative led by Transport for London, all existing pedestrian direction signs in London will be replaced by 2015 with new wayfinding signs. The enamelled monolith-style signs will have maps as well as directions and distances … Continue reading

Posted in Road signs, Transport | 10 Comments

Vehicle fuel efficiency – units matter

An article published on the Guardian web site on 20 June describes US research on the public perception of vehicle fuel efficiency in relation to the units used.

Posted in Transport, Views from abroad | 6 Comments

Police and Network Rail call for metric signs

An incident on 17 June, in which a foreign lorry struck a low bridge near Cannock, the third such incident since April, has prompted the police and Network Rail to call for metric signs to be shown on all bridges … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Road signs, Transport | 19 Comments

UK pays the cost of failure to implement the Vienna Convention

The Department for Transport (DfT) continues to ignore the clear advantages of the adoption of the international norms for road signage, namely the use of metric units, while potentially preventable accidents occur on our roads.

Posted in Law, Road signs, Transport | 22 Comments

Metres and yards – now interchangeable?

A reader of Metric Views has drawn our attention to a paragraph in the DfT Traffic Signs Manual that allows distances shown as ‘yards’ on some traffic signs to be measured in metres. We wonder if this idea on interchangeability … Continue reading

Posted in General, Media, Road signs, Transport | 12 Comments

Speeding – it’s all in the mind

The US web site METRICation US has an amusing story about a speeding Irish driver whose fine was reduced when he convinced the Judge that his speed in km/h sounded higher than it was. The full story is to be found at: … Continue reading

Posted in Transport, Views from abroad | 3 Comments

UK speed limits go metric on 1 January

UKMA issued the following news release at 18:05 on 28 December:

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | 7 Comments

How others see us – an Australian view

UKMA occasionally receives letters from visitors to the UK expressing amazement at our dysfunctional muddle of measurement units. The following is typical (with thanks to JP for allowing us to use it):

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport, Views from abroad | 4 Comments