Hi, I'm back again with another question for my British friends. I've been binge watching all

[sinkingfeeling]

the seasons of "DCI Banks" from the BBC on HBO. Why do they always state how far places in Yorkshire are apart in miles instead of kilometers? Last time I was in UK, all distance signs were in kms, weren't they?

[abqtommy]

1. Actually, Britain has a long history of using the SAE standards for weight and distance.

(Ounces, pounds various tons, inches, feet, yards, and miles.) Here in the U.S. we adopted the British SAE standards. Nowadays many of us can think in SAE or metric and you probably did see road signs with distances in km as a sop to the Euro tourists.

Of course it's handy to have a conversion table. Here's a good one:

https://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/basic.html

Disclaimer: I am not British. I admit to having been in Southampton and London long
ago in my youth. And I have real blood cousins in Sussex. Besides, I know stuff and
wouldn't steer you wrong. And I'm also fond of British TV.

[Hoyt]

2. Hooked on British show like DCI Banks. Missed that though.

[Celerity]

3. Because 4 exceptions were made to the 1966 Metric Act, miles, pints, carats, acres

The UK is a mishmash overall.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. And yards. Road signs must say 'yards', but be positioned by metres!

Similarly while specifications for designing and positioning road signs are metric, contractors must mark distances for motorists in imperial. For example Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual requires contractors to place signs warning of a lane closure at multiples of 200 metres but to indicate the distances as multiples of 200 yards on the signs themselves (see Section D3.42.11 and Plans TS1 to TS4).



Since yards and metres are treated as equivalent, it is irrational that the Department for Transport claims that motorists might be confused if signs showed metres!

Metric distances (both in metres and kilometres) are not authorised on British traffic signs.

https://ukma.org.uk/road-signage/

[Celerity]

9. typical lunacy, lolol

have a pint

[Soph0571]

4. All distances are in miles!

[abqtommy]

6. The formula is: 'miles X 1.6 equals km'. The inverse is 'km X .6 equals miles'. Same goes for speed.

Amaze your friends! dumbfound your enemies! Sorry, I don't have a quick formula to get
rid of The Tories. The voters will have to do that!

[JustAnotherGen]

5. No idea

But I love that show! I'm an Acorn and Britbox addict. If you like DCI Banks - check out Vera and Unforgotten.

[The King of Prussia]

7. Basically "No"

Road signs are in miles as opposed to kilometers.

https://ukma.org.uk/road-signage/