Friday Poll No.34: Kilometres or Miles?

[Rob McCow]

What has Britain got in common with Burma and Liberia?

We're the only countries in the world (outside of the US) to use miles rather than kilometres. You can drive from China to France in kilometres, yet hop the channel and you discover the English mile, a quaint old custom in a backward-looking country.

But before we consign the mile to the dustbin of history, stop to consider - isn't this part of our heritage? Wouldn't be losing something that makes Britain unique?

It would cost more than £80 million to convert all the road signs. Never mind the confusion it would cause as people got used to it.

With the Olympics coming, is it time for Britain to come into line with the rest of Europe? Or is the change a waste of time and effort?

There was a campaign in early 2006 to change the signing system in the UK, but it seems to have come to nothing. Should we look in the mirror and make that change?



Devon Miles - or Cornwall Kilometres? You decide!

[Ralph]

I'm happy to keep the British mile - I see no good reason to change it unless you can tell me one?

So let us be "backward thinking" and save wasting £80 million - let commonsense prevail my good fellow!

[WhiteCrow]

Something tells me if we adopt KM it'll mean a lot of lucrative work for Mr McCow - so I voted to keep miles.

Imagine the chaos if we replace kilometers instead of Miles,
* My father, Miles Talks, would have his name become obsolete
* The Proclaimers would have to sing "And I would walk 805 km ..."

[Si Hunt]

The whole metric thing has been a cock-up of epic proportions, with whole generations now used to buying milk and driving in old imperial measurements, and weighing cake ingrediants (but not people) in new metric ones.

I'm not bothered about the cost or the "heritage" (although confusion on the roads is concerning) but on the basis that we're all used to the current system now, I'd probably settle for leaving it as is.

Si.

[Lord President]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[SiHart]

I Can See For Kilometres and Kilometres.... no doesn't have the same ring to it!

I say keep miles. Let's be an eccentric country. Let's dare to be different.

Si xx

[WhiteCrow]

I don't imagine America will go all metric on us any time soon - they love their Quarter Pounders.

[Wayne]

Miles Davis's bother Kilometers never got famous did he?

[Lissa]

I wouldn't have a problem with converting except that 30mph road signs would be replaced by 50kmh road signs and every cockwit, dickstain and wankpuddle in the country would start driving at 50mph through built up areas. And they would all use the same excuse and would all get off because the system was "too confusing".

[Antony Cox]

cockwit, dickstain and wankpuddle.

Sounds like the very firm of solicitors who'd probably get them let off.

[Captain Tancredi]

The thing is, if we changed now, every single road sign with a mileage figure on from Land's End to the Shetlands would have to be replaced-and overnight to boot, unless you devised a way of distinguishing between the two measurements.

As well as the point Lissa makes (I don't have her facility with scatological invectives) there's also the way in which distances would suddenly seem to be longer overnight- there might be a psychological benefit if some people were put off driving by Leeds to London becoming 320km rather than 200 miles- but equally some might be inclined to put their feet down if their destination seems further away.

Anybody who's ever been to Australia will have seen some of the really huge distance figures they have on the motorways over there, the main effect apparently being to make a big country seem even bigger.

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm a useless judge of distance as it is, so I don't really care either way.

[Jon Masters]

Since one shortish Frenchman was mainly responsible for Europe adopting the metric distance system, that should be enough for any patriotic British native to vote against it (well, except maybe the Scots who seem to take their side whenever the chance arises )