My reading of the various bits of UK legislation is that the UK is an exceptional country - there seem to be exceptions for everything.
Firstly we have the EU directive which permits miles, yards, feet and inches on road signs and distances in all member states that were using them in 1972. That also includes the Republic of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus. The RoI has chosen to abandon imperial units in the last few years while Malta and Cyprus did so well before they even thought of joining the EU. Northern Ireland has its own parliament (Stormont) who has virtual complete autonomy in this respect provided that they observe their EU obligations - although the UK Government has to give a reason why they see fit to overrule Stormont. Britain (as opposed to the United Kingdom) has not outlawed metric units for distances - they just have not permitted them. Scotland has its own parliament who can authorize metric distances but not speeds on their roads. The Welsh assembly has similar powers. To add to the confusion, Britain has two Overseas Territories (Gibraltar which is administered by the Ministry of Defence) and a military area in Cyprus) and in addition there are the Crown Dependencies in Europe (which are independent of the UK, but are part of the Queen's domains) - Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. These five territories have freedom to choose metric or imperial units. Gibraltar and the army bases in Cyprus use metric units - the others use imperial units. And you guys thought that the status of Puerto Rico was complex? _____ From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of ezra.steinb...@comcast.net Sent: 11 June 2010 05:18 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:47688] Are metric speed limit and/or distance signs permitted by US Federal law or regulation? All: I just realized I am not clear about the legal status of metric distance and speed limit signs in the USA. Do Federal laws and regulations permit them in all circumstances? Only some? What role do state, county, and local laws and regulations play in all this? I ask because I'm wondering if turns out to be the case that the UK is the only country on the planet that has officially outlawed metric distance and road signs on officially maintained roadways. Even though such signs are virtually non-existent here in the USA, I'm presuming this is so simply because the states have chosen not to use them rather than because they have been made illegal either at the Federal or the state level. Thanks, Ezra
