re (SteveH): "Is there anything that can be done about the waterways? I've noticed a very daft speed limit a while back"

REPORT:

It is correct, as another reporter has posted, that the U.K Government 'forgot' to exempt the inland waterways from the oppressive EC/181/80 Directive that ordered Britain to go metric. Yes, we saved the roads and footpaths from the E.U. Directive, by kind permission of our E.U. masters, and saved the pint of milk and pint of beer, but not much else.

The Inland Waterways companies (there are several of them now) recognise that they are 'supposed' to convert to metric and have complied with various degrees of enthusiasm or, put more correctly, various degrees of lack of enthusiasm.

This is a round-up.

1. The River Thames has erected many signs saying 'Speed Limit 8 kilometres per hour'. The speed limit used to be 5 miles per hour. The River Thames Authority has erected special posts along the Thames, usually on or close to the locks, to help you measure whether you're going at 8 kilometres an hour and published leaflets to explain how to measure the speed. This is because many craft on the waterways are either just in miles per hour or have no speed limit indicator.

2. On some canals, the speed limit is 4mph. The River Ouse, for example, still has numerous '4mph' signs along it. But other canals have converted precisely to kilometres per hour. ARM spotters have seen signs saying: 'Speed limit 6.437 kilometres per hour'(!). They tend to be inaccessible to amendment, unless one has a suitable manoeuverable boat.

3. One of the daftest set of signs yet seen is the series of '11.2 kilometres per hour' signs along the River Nene. ARM supporters have professionally amended many other signs so as to read '7mph'. Foot-high adhesive black lettering in Helvetica Medium Font was bought to restore the signs to Imperial measurements (they are included amongst the 2,141 signs converted to Imperial on ARM's national list). The '11.2 kilometre per hour' signs were first of all painted over with a suitable white paint. Around six or seven have been converted along the canal to date.

4. We have been informed that some of the '8 kilometres per hour' signs along the Thames have been removed.

5. Along the Birmingham Canal Network, dozens of metric distances have been erected along the towpath, on black-and-white bollards. ARM supporters have already converted 51 of these distances, on around 15 bollards, to Imperial measurements - and further action is planned for the summer.

6. A canal around Runcorn has recently erected the lengths of its tunnel in metres, much to the annoyance of canal users who are generally a pretty pro-Imperial lot. ARM supporters are planning to amend them.

7. Heights above sea level along the canals are usually given in metres - again to the annoyance of most canal users.

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The Council of ARM is always pleased to receive reports of metric measurements, whether for road-users, walkers or boats

I give my full support to any changes made to waterway signs back to Imperial.

Mainly because it appears that no-one wants metric there!

What on EARTH is the good of having 7 point whatever kmh signs when I gather most if not all boats only have mph (or knots?). There's not even the km/h in small print!

And how *on earth* can it affect cross europe harmony by having british inland waterways in imperial?

Who , say, in Holland will suffer because of "5 mph"?

Another example of the EU totally alienating "proper and true" pro-europeans like myself!

No wonder most treat the EU with suspicion.

And no longer just in the UK!

Grrr!

A photo of an 11.2 kph sign is at this location:
http://www.bwmaonline.com/Transport%20-%20Waterways.htm

Webster defines "road" as "an open way for vehicles, persons, and animals." Therefore, if you consider a boat as a vehicle, you could consider a waterway as a road and the exemption from the EU directive might apply.

Bud wrote

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Webster defines "road" as "an open way for vehicles, persons, and animals." Therefore, if you consider a boat as a vehicle, you could consider a waterway as a road and the exemption from the EU directive might apply.
>>

1. Webster's dictionary is an American publication. In the United Kingdom, the Oxford Enghlish Dictionary is regarded as being an authoritative source.

2. If one is looking at the exact meaning of a word in an EU directive, one needs to look at the wording in all the languages, not just a single language before forming an opinion.

3. There are no exemptions from this particular the EU directive. The directive itself dictates what may and may not be used. You can see the directive for yourself at

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/consleg/pdf/1980/en_1980L0181_do_001.pdf

You can see the French language version by changing the "/en/" and the "/en_" in the URL to "/fr/" and "/fr_" respectively. Other languages can be found in a similar manner.

...and that's why public opinion should be totally overlooked and an alien "11.2 kmh" put on our rivers so that no-one can make use of it.

Great excuse for "harmony"

Forum Owner wrote

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A photo of an 11.2 kph sign is at this location:
http://www.bwmaonline.com/Transport%20-%20Waterways.htm
>>

Your posting implies that the persons responsible for the sign are breakig the law by usin gthe meaningless "kph". They in fact spelt "kilometres per hour" out in full.

And the colour of the sign probably didn't meet reg: EN 4544.211 Z43 rev 3 and probably isn't official.

So lets tear it down.

Martin - why don't you start enjoying life rather than cross checking your every living moment with the rule books?

What's wrong with kph? It's just an abbreviation, like mph.

<<
What is wrong with kph?
>>

"kph" is based on the English language while "km/h" is an internationally agreed symbol.

When I was working in Italy, I noticed that "km/h" was used universally for speed even though the Italian for "kilometers per hour" is "chillometri alla ora". Likewise, they always use "h" to represent "hours" (Again by international convention), even though the Italian for "hours" is "ora".

When I was working in Germany and in the Netherlands I noticed similar convetnions even though the Dutch word for hours is "uur" and the German word is "stunde". The Dutch and the Germans both spell "kilometre" as "kilometer".

Do I detect that BWMA was fishing just then?

Think about it....