Time for metrication of speed limits and distances on our roads

12.00.00am GMT Thu 23rd Feb 2006

The Alliance Party's youth wing has come out in favour of proposals for metrication of the UK's speed limits and distance signs before the London Olympics in 2012.

Chairman Cllr Ian James Parsley explained: "I asked Roads Service for clarification on this issue, and it has made it clear that the UK is obliged under EU directives to change over from miles to kilometres, just as has happened in the Irish Republic.

"I appreciate that in some ways the old units have great appeal. There is a degree of sentiment and even nostalgic pride in retaining the old measurement system on our roads, which has served us perfectly well for centuries. In this context, there would be some merit in the argument that the changeover is a waste of money were it not for the fact that the UK is

already obliged to do it. So why not set the London Olympics as the deadline?

"However, the UK in fact started the conversion to metric before even entering the EEC in 1965, so it is rather ludicrous that we have been left in a half-way house while countries like Canada, Australia, and the Irish Republic have changed over. The UK's roads are in fact built to metric speed standards - motorways, for example, are built for a 120kmh limit rather than a 70mph one.

"More specifically, metrication would offer an immediate chance to raise the speed limit on motorways and lower it on rural single carriageways, just as happened in the Republic. The result, if properly enforced, would be a significant decrease in road casualties, which remain a priority issue for young people right across Europe."

ENDS