>There are over 10 times as many people in the UK as Ireland >However - the road network in Ireland, out side major cities like Dublin) is >mainly horse laden rural lanes.
I know that rural roads are generally narrower, but I'm highly amused that you would think that horse drawn traffic is common anywhere in this country. This is pigs-in-the-parlor mythology, and it is no nearer the truth than the notion that Wales is overrun by gangs of men roaming across the valleys terrorizing tourists with their close harmony singing. > ... culminating in the busiest road IN THE ROAD, the bloody M25 ! Yes I've been on it. Mind you our M50 (Dublin orbital) is catching up fast (!). However, when switching speed signs it's not so much how wide or how busy the roads are, but how many of them there are (or more accurately how many speed signs there are). If Canada and Australia -- countries far more vast than either of ours -- could do it over a bank holiday weekend, I don't see why it would be beyond British ingenuity. >I've never been in the postion of needing to know how many yards there are >in a mile, or feet in a yard, whilst driving a car. On a metric odometer, you can read off 100 m intervals. An imperial one allows you read off 1/10 mile, but that's not much use if the short term units are yards. >I could be snobbish and say that, being one of the wealthiest euro-nations, >they should adapt to us! But I won't! Just as well. at G$1727 you marginally outscore France and Italy, but Germany's G$2178 is greater. Since the EU15 is G$10219, the UK is about a sixth of that, so how do you figure that *everyone* else should adapt to you ? This smacks of the famous "Channel fogbound - Europe isolated" British headline. http://titania.sourceoecd.org/vl=391165/cl=47/nw=1/rpsv/factbook/02-01-01-g01.htm >I would counter all arguments with one. >Would it be worth just one life being ended as a result of an accident >related to changing signs, just to say "there, all the signs are metric like >they should be". That logic could be used to impose an overall 50 km/h (30MPH) limit on all roads. "Is is worth just one life being ended to allow people to drive faster than 50 km/h ?". Also the experience here in Ireland bears out the results in Canada and Australia. There have been *no* cases where speed sign changeover contributed to a higher death rate. Or to paraphrase your question, is it worth adding the small risk (ultra-hypotechical, but definitely a risk) of having a different measurement scale to the rest of Europe for speed, when cross border driving is increasing all the time simply so that you can preserve your traditional units ? >I believe that on road signs, having dual signage is a safety issue for >something that currently has an impeccable safety record. >If it ain't broke - don't fix it... >If it's very unbroke, don't harmonize it 'down' The UK's good record is because drivers there are well disciplined, and the police do a great job on enforcement. Neither would change if the signs said km/h rather than MPH. What would be removed is the anomaly of one EU country using a different set of units for speed, which must have a small but finite risk of misunderstandings. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Ireland
