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Miles per hour (mph, m.p.h., MPH, or mi/h) is a British imperial and United States customary unit of speed expressing the number of miles travelled in one hour. It is used in the United Kingdom , the United States , and a number of smaller countries, most of which are UK or US territories, or have close historical ties with the UK or US.
When James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne in 1603, England and Scotland had different systems of measure. Superficially the English and the Scots units of measure were similar – many had the same names – but there were differences in their sizes: in particular the Scots pint and gallon were more than twice the size of their English counterparts. [3]
However, derived units such as miles per hour or miles per gallon continue to be abbreviated as "mph" and "mpg" rather than "mi/h" and "mi/gal". In the United Kingdom, road signs use "m" as the abbreviation for mile though height and width restrictions also use "m" as the symbol for the metre, which may be displayed alongside feet and inches. [6]
The Magna Carta of 1215 stipulates that there should be a standard measure of volume for wine, ale and corn (the London Quarter), and for weight, but does not define these units. [6] Later development of the English system was by defining the units in laws and by issuing measurement standards. Standards were renewed in 1496, 1588, and 1758. [7]
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In 1998 the TRL reported [7] that signed 20 mph (32 km/h) speed limits only reduced traffic speeds by about 1 mph (1.6 km/h) and delivered no discernible reduction in accident numbers but that 20 mph (32 km/h) zones achieved average speed reductions of 10 mph (16 km/h) with child pedestrian accident reductions of 70% and child cyclist accident ...
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British roads are limited for most vehicles by the National Speed Limit.Road signs in the UK use imperial units, so speed limits are posted in miles per hour.Speed limits are the maximum speed at which certain drivers may legally drive on a road rather than a defined appropriate speed, and in some cases the nature of a road may dictate that one should drive significantly more slowly than the ...