Finally going metric on 19th January

dmeehan

Alun wrote:

before they had built much in the way of motorways etc.

surely the same applies here too :rolleyes:

Capt'n Midnight

Alun wrote:

Many years ago, back in the 60's IIRC, before they had built much in the way of motorways etc.

Maybe they could take this into account for the M50 junction upgrades, seriously in Japan they drive on the left so it's not as if there will ever be a time when there won't be any left hand drive cars. Africa could be fun since they have land boarders. If the UK change then we'd probably change too, but seeing as how NI drivers are nearly as bad as the ones down here it would be carnage if we changed before they did.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if Henry Ford was right handed.

mackerski

loyatemu wrote:

how have the Brits gotten out of doing this?

A few possible explanations:

* A combination of bloody-mindedness and greater influence than we have
* A more compelling case for sticking, since they hadn't done half the conversion already
* We could possibly have got out of it too, but government policy favours the idea (odd to see the government actually favouring a good idea, but there you go).

loyatemu wrote:

and is it really a good idea for new cars to get rid of the mile scale altogether - plently of drivers will still be driving in the north & UK a lot.

(actually I presume this is because they already make km only speedos for the continental market and don't want to have to manufacture 3 different types of speedos)

You've answered your own question. Though it surprised me that at least the well-exported brands wouldn't have had the demand for km-then-mile clocks. The Canadian market, for instance, would be in a similar position, with the prospect of cross-border driving to a stone-age country. You'd think that Merc, BMW and a few other brands would have catered for this.

OTOH, a km-only scale is a lot tidier in the dash, and it isn't that hard to remember the more important conversions (30->50, 40->60+, 50->80, 60->100-, 70->112).

Dermot

fjon

As far as I know the following (big) countries drive on the left - UK, Ireland, Oz, NZ, South Africa, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, India, China

The last three countries alone make up a large chunk of the world's population. WOuld I be right in saying that more people drive on the right side than the left?

Edit: I'm wrong - twice the number of people drive on the right than the left: http://members.cox.net/rmf9/whichside.htm

Alun

fjon wrote:

As far as I know the following (big) countries drive on the left - UK, Ireland, Oz, NZ, South Africa, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, India, China

The last three countries alone make up a large chunk of the world's population. WOuld I be right in saying that more people drive on the right side than the left?

Almost twice as many ... see http://members.cox.net/rmf9/whichside.htm. Also see http://www.geocities.com/jusjih/driving-rl.html which goes into how many countries (depending on your exact definition of "country", and it isn't as clear cut as you might think!) drive on the left or right.

BTW China drives on the right, Hong Kong and Macau on the left!

EDIT: I haven't found a reference to how many actual cars there are in each category though. India may have a huge population for example, but car ownership will be pretty low compared to, say, Liechtenstein!

GerardKeating

fjon wrote:

As far as I know the following (big) countries drive on the left - UK, Ireland, Oz, NZ, South Africa, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, India, China

http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm

For the full history on this fasinating topic

DadaKopf

Who's organising the changeover? Santa Claus?

Capt'n Midnight

http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/images/driving%20on%20the%20left.gif
It's only 20KB - couldn't resist - but why is Ireland Orange and not Green ??

Victor

loyatemu wrote:

how have the Brits gotten out of doing this?

They have a permanent derogation.

Victor

Hmmm, what country is this? Or do the Somalis go on a province by province basis, depending on who has the biggest machine gun on his pick-up truck?

BrianD3

With widespread confusion expected for the first few weeks the public is to be bombarded with information in the run up to the changeover.

I'd say it could end a bit like the euro changeover. The majority of the population are morons who have extreme difficulty with simple conversions, So there will be lots of confusion. And there'll be lots of ould ones ringing up Joe Duffy to have a moan about the new system.

Lots of idiots don't even understand the CURRENT speed limits - eg I know plenty of people who think that the limit on a dual carriageway is 70 mph and that the national speed limit is 55 mph

Also I wonder will the Gardai be demanding a pay rise for the inconvenience of enforcing the new limits....bank staff, are you listening?

BrianD3

Capt'n Midnight

Victor wrote:

Hmmm, what country is this? Or do the Somalis go on a province by province basis, depending on who has the biggest machine gun on his pick-up truck?

British Somaliland home to the Mad Mullah

mackerski

BrianD3 wrote:

The majority of the population are morons who have extreme difficulty with simple conversions, So there will be lots of confusion.

But there's nothing to convert - you adapt your speed as shown on the speedo to the one that's on the sign, just like you always did.

Dermot