# Person in front of you decelerates--best to brake, or best to change lanes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794 "2013-01-10T20:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794/121 "2013-01-12T22:47:55Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > The best courses in road driving in the world are more or less universally considered to be based upon “The System”, something developed over decades at the UK police driving school in Hendon. > > If you want an introduction to the system, then buy a book called “Roadcraft”. There are other excellent books avaliable but that’s the “bible” of advanced driving. > > When they do these courses they learn to do a commentary, there are lots of great vids of that in example on youtube or I have seen DVDs where you can watch it in example for hours. There are also lots of schools you can go to which teach techniques, as well as in the UK at least two amateur advanced driving organisations and also one semi-amateur one. > > Anyway here’s something I just found on youtube - I haven’t watched more than about thirty seconds of it so it may or not be terribly instructive but it has a good rating and in any case illustrates very well the commentary I am talking about. Look how systematic it is: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtQ4NN5\_-Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtQ4NN5_-Q) - key thing is look how unhurried and slow/calm a true expert is when they are performing their craft properly. That’s a proper emergency high speed drive - compare it to the crazy stuff on world’s wildest police videos where the US police are sliding all over the road in crown vics… Ha that was fun, I just watched the whole thing. He didn’t even break a sweat, did he? Note how often he says “mirror” and I like that he thanks people repeatedly for staying out of his way. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794/122 "2013-01-12T23:46:45Z")
> [@Diamonds02](#): > > I seldomly have that problem with people pulling in front of me, enough for me to slow down to dangerously low speeds. I drive in the slow lane, maybe that has something to do with it. I guess I should have mentioned that I drive in the middle lane, which is where the people I object to are. People being slow in the slow lane I have no problem with - they are where they belong and I can get around them if I have to. I’m usually only in the slow lane approaching an exit, so being delayed a second of two is fine. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794/123 "2013-01-13T00:19:37Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Ha that was fun, I just watched the whole thing. He didn’t even break a sweat, did he? > Note how often he says “mirror” and I like that he thanks people repeatedly for staying out of his way. Yes, and in practice he will actually be looking at the mirrors far more often than he says mirror. Generally speaking commentary will be focused on the most important thing going on at that time. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8QKPS090Wk) is another example of police commentary. Meanwhile for a classic police drive, albeit with commentary from a twice convicted drink driver :rolleyes: in a studio a few years later, you can’t beat the fabled [liver run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTN5X4JZFjU) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794/124 "2013-01-13T01:34:16Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Ha that was fun, I just watched the whole thing. He didn’t even break a sweat, did he? > Note how often he says “mirror” and I like that he thanks people repeatedly for staying out of his way. > [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Yes, and in practice he will actually be looking at the mirrors far more often than he says mirror. Generally speaking commentary will be focused on the most important thing going on at that time. > > [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8QKPS090Wk) is another example of police commentary. To me, the really amazing thing about these videos is the way all the other drivers just keep going about their business, instead of getting out of the way… ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794/125 "2013-01-13T01:50:49Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Not a highway situation, but just a couple of weeks ago, the person in front of me stopped for a family in the cross walk. I stopped, too. The person behind us apparently thought we we stopping in the middle of the road for no reason, swung into the other lane and just about creamed a family walking across the road. Guy I worked with years ago got killed that way - he was one of several people in a marked crosswalk, traffic stopped for them, and a girl decided to just change lanes and go around them. She actually hit two people in the crosswalk, but only injured the other one. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794/126 "2013-01-14T08:12:42Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > To me, the really amazing thing about these videos is the way all the other drivers just keep going about their business, instead of getting out of the way… In many cases, that’s the best thing to do - or at least better than some of the other things people frequently do, such as: Stopping immediately (in a place that isn’t suitable for the emergency vehicle to pass) Mounting the kerb (risking loss of control, harm to pedestrians, damage to your vehicle) Stopping abruptly (forcing the emergency vehicle to deal with you as a sudden obstruction) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-in-front-of-you-decelerates-best-to-brake-or-best-to-change-lanes/646794.md?page=6)