At the suggestion of an occasional contributor to this mesage board, the now-famous letter from Mr Mike Talbot, Head of the Traffic Management Division of the Department for Transport, to all Chief Executives of Councils in England, dated 16 July 2002, is reproduced verbatim below:
Dear Chief Executive
THE TRAFFIC SIGNS REGULATIONS AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS 1994 - UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
"In view of the recent publicity about a court case involving damge to road works signs that showed distances in metres, you might find it helpful to have the enclosed note summarising the provisions of the Trafffic Signs Regulations in relation to the use of imperial and metric measurements on traffic signs.
I should be grateful if you could bring this to the attention of members of your staff who are involved in the provisions of traffic signs:
The Traffic Signs Regulations 1994 (SI 1994 No 1519 Part I) allow signs displaying distances in imperial units only (miles and yards). Any sign which incorporates metric distances is not a traffic sign within the meaning of Section 64 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and is not covered by the power to place traffic signs conferred by Section 65.
Section 65 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 permits traffic authorities to place traffic signs on or near any road in their area. Section 142 of the same Act defines 'road' as any length of highway or of any other road to which the public has access - the Act therefore covers privately owned roads to which the public has access as well as highways maintained at public expense.
Designs for direction signs, including those to be used on public footpaths and bridleways, are specified in Schedule 7 to the Traffic Signs Regulations. Distance plates for warning signs are specified in Schedule 1. Items 3 to 8 of Schedule 16 provide for the distances shown on particular signs to be varied to include fractions of miles, or to yards wher the distance is less than half a mile, as specified for the sign diagrams listed in those items in Schedule 16. Guidance on detailed design is given in Chapter 7 of the Traffic Signs Manual, available from The Stationery Office.
Direction 35 of the Traffic Signs General Directions 1994 (SI 1994 No 1519 Part II) permits the use of signs indicating vehicle length or width restrictions in metres but only if the restriction is also shown in feet and inches. Signs indicating a height limit may show feet and inches only (Diagram 629.2) or imperial and metric limits together (diagram 629.2A)".
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NOTE from T.B.:
To this emphatic statement, I would only add that this view (of Mike Talbot) is fully supported by the U.K. Metric Association, who complain bitterly on the home page of their wesbite: "Britain is the only country in the world which bans metric units from distance signs".
Tony Bennett
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