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>not too hard on people but a lot of signage needs to change. Feasible. Very expensive though. Signs normally have a 20 years expected lifetime. Now you need

by smackfu 14y ago

>not too hard on people but a lot of signage needs to change. Feasible. Very expensive though. Signs normally have a 20 years expected lifetime. Now you need to replace them all at once. Plus a lot of the sign locations need to be changed, unless you want all those "Exit 29 1 mile" signs to now say "Exit 29 1.6 km".

jzwinck 14y ago
You do not need to replace them all at once. For example the new signs could be European style, red ringed white circles with the number inside. Virtually every car has both readings already. This would make new speed limit signs immediately recognizable to more visitors in the future while avoiding ambiguity of units during the transition. They could even say km/h during the first generation.
- DanBC 14y ago
  Road signs need to be very clear and instantly understandable. Adding a tiny delay to comprehension; a tiny bit of lack of attention to the road; could, when multiplied over the number of kilometres driven and number of drivers and time mean many deaths. Whether that's acceptable or not is another matter, but it'd suck if "km/h KILLED MY FATHER" became a meme. It is odd how some countries make massive national changes overnight. eg, Sweden: (http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20...) > In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum on the introduction of right-hand driving. Although no less than 82.9% voted “no” to the plebiscite, the Swedish parliament passed a law on the conversion to right-hand driving in 1963. Finally, the change took place on Sunday, the 3rd of September 1967, at 5 o’clock in the morning. Leaving it until now has meant the UK would find it very hard to change.
e1ven 14y ago
Why not phase things in, by having both measurements put on, for all new signs? Exit 14 - 1 Kilometer (.6Miles) Then, as the old signs wear out, eventually all signs are replaced.
- fennecfoxen 14y ago
  Rounding to the likes of 1.5km is good enough for a highway sign.

by smackfu 14y ago

jzwinck 14y ago

You do not need to replace them all at once. For example the new signs could be European style, red ringed white circles with the number inside. Virtually every car has both readings already. This would make new speed limit signs immediately recognizable to more visitors in the future while avoiding ambiguity of units during the transition. They could even say km/h during the first generation.

DanBC 14y ago
Road signs need to be very clear and instantly understandable. Adding a tiny delay to comprehension; a tiny bit of lack of attention to the road; could, when multiplied over the number of kilometres driven and number of drivers and time mean many deaths. Whether that's acceptable or not is another matter, but it'd suck if "km/h KILLED MY FATHER" became a meme. It is odd how some countries make massive national changes overnight. eg, Sweden: (http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20...) > In 1955, the Swedish government held a referendum on the introduction of right-hand driving. Although no less than 82.9% voted “no” to the plebiscite, the Swedish parliament passed a law on the conversion to right-hand driving in 1963. Finally, the change took place on Sunday, the 3rd of September 1967, at 5 o’clock in the morning. Leaving it until now has meant the UK would find it very hard to change.

e1ven 14y ago

Why not phase things in, by having both measurements put on, for all new signs? Exit 14 - 1 Kilometer (.6Miles) Then, as the old signs wear out, eventually all signs are replaced.

fennecfoxen 14y ago
Rounding to the likes of 1.5km is good enough for a highway sign.