Posts Tagged ‘metric’

Labour leadership hopefuls quizzed on metrication

Monday, August 30th, 2010

It is at least possible that one of the five candidates for the Labour leadership will be our next Prime Minister – so it would be helpful to know where each stands on the question of completing metrication.  Here is the result (so far) of a small survey carried out by an individual Party member.

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DfT prefers imperial units to pedestrian safety

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Signs indicating the emergency escape routes in tunnels are of critical importance to the safety of tunnel users, given the particular hazards of fire and smoke within tunnel environments. Sadly, the government’s irrational position on units of measure even extends to these safety critical signs, as illustrated by the different units being used by the same authority on adjacent tunnels.

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Could a future Government reverse metrication?

Friday, April 16th, 2010

A recent correspondent expressed the wish “Let’s hope the new (Conservative) government puts a stop to metrication as far as is practically possible.” Naturally, we disagree with this sentiment – but, whoever wins the election, what could they actually do to turn the clock back? and, realistically, what  would they do?

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Imperial confusion on new tunnel signs

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Transport for London (TfL) was today criticised by the UK Metric Association (UKMA) for bungling the erection of new signs at the Rotherhithe tunnel, including banning all vehicles over 33 inches long from using the tunnel – and for wasting up to £6000 on erecting or amending new signs that will soon be obsolete.

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Spare a thought for any would-be Brysons out there

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

What units do you choose when you are writing travel books and other popular non-fiction for English speakers, wherever they might be found? (Article written by a reader of Bill Bryson’s books) (more…)

Will the European Commission challenge US labelling rules?

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

A recent posting by NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) has prompted this question: Are American labelling requirements now illegal under WTO rules?

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Chaos comes to National Cycle Network signs

Friday, October 9th, 2009

In an apparent admission that cycle route signs showing distances in miles are not meaningful to cyclists, the Department for Transport is proposing to allow authorities the option of using signs that show journey times in hrs and mins instead of distances in miles and fractions of miles.

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Loony Measurement System

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

A member of the UK Metric Association has given us permission to reproduce an amusing article from his personal blog.  Acknowledgements and thanks to David Brown.

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