ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Metric threads

Is that a fairly small square pole? I don't know how many of you are familiar with both, but just compare the typical American and British methods of mounting a simple sign (e.g. a single STOP or YIELD sign). The British arrangement is pure overkill.

We have those in Norfolk, except the dirt portions to the side are known as fields! Seriously though, there are a lot of back lanes only wide enough for one car.

Yikes! They do look a little confusing.

Don't tell anyone, but I reckon they were the Irish branch of THIS CONSPIRACY!

It's way off topic, but where did you find that site?

I found it some months ago, but I can't remember what I was searching for at the time!

Did you get as far as the part telling you that the direction signs in Wal-Mart are part of the secret plot as well?

Confusing is the kindest that can be said for those banned Irish signs!

The Italians have nice signs and all but unless they think it is really, really necessary to put up a sign they don't. Giving directions at every roundabout is overkill. Every other is enough... Lost? Who, me?


No, the small signs have always had one pole with the occasional support strut. The large signs, like Dave's above had four or five poles plus supports! This was replaced with a large square "open" pole. Looks somewhat like a small version of the towers used for antennas or HV lines.

Ours are still

small signs (average sized yeld/stop/local direction) : one pole.

Large stop/yeild/warning etc : 2 poles.

Bigger signs: Have seen up to 6 poles!

So Dave,

How has the changeover to metric speeds gone now you've had them for a couple of months?

Paul,

It went so smoothly it's almost creepy! I was expecting a mess of MPH and KM/H signs but, amazingly enough by the change over date all of the MPH signs disappeared and KM/H appeared in their place.

The only thing that caused some contraversy was the abolition of the "general national speed limit" which was 60mph.


Meant end of speed controled zone... national speed limit of 60mph applies.

EVERY road now has an official speed limit marked up and that sign no longer exists.

Many rural folks were quite annoyed that non national primary routes (N roads) [the same as A roads in the UK] have had their speed limits reduced from 60mph to 80km/h... but, then again anyone who actually drove at a constant 60 mph on many of these R (regional) and L (link) roads should have considered a career as a rally driver!

The contraversy over the 80km/h limits didn't last long though... People seem to have just gotten used to it and are ignoring the signs just like they always did in the old MPH days anyway!

The police have started a big "anti detector detection campaign" though. It's completely illegal to own, operate, sell or store a laser or radar detector designed to pick up speed traps.

Apparently they've gotten quite popular in recent years. A local car accessory shop here in Cork was even raided and all of the devices they had on sale / in storage were siezed.

Seemingly, no one actually knew that they were illegal

I didn't realize that radar detectors were illegal in Ireland. There was talk of outlawing them here a while back, but so far as I know nothing ever came of it.

To me, the "national speed limit" sign has always been something of an oddity. It imposes a speed limit without explicitly specifying what that limit is. In the U.K., for example, that same sign can mean 60 or 70 MPH depending upon the type of road (and at one time it could mean 50, 60, or 70!).

Another odd sign has crept in since they started posting 20 limits in towns. Instead of a regular circular speed limit sign, like this:


we hava a rectangular one which adds the word "zone" to it:


Then at the end of the 20 zone, we get one which shows 30 and a 20 crossed out in gray!



Why they don't just put up regular 20 and 30 signs is anybody's guess.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 03-21-2005).]

We have that on hills and mountains. Going up there are two lanes, but where visibility is good enough, the lane going down has an interrupted double line towards the center lane, which menas you can use the center lane for overtaking from both lanes. For that reason everybody calls the center lane overtaking lane. Works quite well where it is used but led to frequent frontal crashes when they tried to introduce it everywhere. Now you have some roads with two incredibly wide lanes...

In Austria we always used to have yellow lines everywhere, with the exception of hard shoulder lines and zebra crossings that where always white. The border lines where yellow though, so when the hard shoulder ended at an exit ramp you suddnely had the line change from white to yellow and back again. In 1994 a worldwide treaty came into force and they changed everything but no parking lines to white. Actually they even changed those and then changed them back to yellow again...

We also have blue lines in the limited time parking zones.

Speed limit is 50/100/130, and now they're discussing a 160 speed limit. the best argument against: We're in Austria. With a 130 limit people go 160. With a 160 limit they'd go 220. So we best leave the speed limit as is.

The Germans don't have a general expressway speed limit at all.

I've always liked the 'delimit' sign and consider it quintessentially British (in sensu lato as in Isles – thereby escaping the various nationalities bit ). Explaining it to foreigners is a bit like explaining the rules of cricket – even when you have finished, the look in their face suggests they might still not understand – quite.

Remember too the Isle of Man where, if I recall correctly, delimit is still just that and as long as one does not drive without undue care and attention or dangerously you can go as fast as you want. Not that you would on most Manx roads.

This thread must take the prize for being the most OT – not just from the gambit of the board but also the title of the thread!


[This message has been edited by Hutch (edited 03-21-2005).]