Roadwise States Rhode Island Driving lessons IPDE, Zones & Visual Search Rhode Island driving lesson · Defensive Driving Systems
IPDE, Zones & Visual Search A 3-minute lesson from the Rhode Island course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Read time 3 minutes
Course unit Defensive Driving Systems
Checkpoint questions 6
Source pages 50 Defensive driving means protecting yourself and others from dangerous, unexpected changes around you. The handbook teaches systems that turn good habits into automatic ones: IPDE, the zone system, and an orderly way to scan the road.
Defensive driving The art of protecting yourself and others from dangerous and unexpected changes; anticipating others' actions and adjusting speed, position, weather and road conditions.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Know the rule
IPDE is a 'thinking-doing' process: Identify, Predict and Decide are thinking; Execute is doing. With practice it becomes automatic.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Zone system Six zones (areas of space) around your vehicle, each a lane wide and extending as far as you can see.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Open zone An area you can drive into without restrictions to your line of sight or intended path.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Closed zone An area not available because something restricts your line of sight or intended path.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Orderly visual search pattern: Check your line of sight and path ahead Evaluate front zones in the 12–15 second target area: intersections, driveways, parked cars Glance in your mirrors at rear zones Evaluate your 4–6 second range for changes to your path Look ahead to another 12–15 second range, then 4–6 seconds again Glance in the mirrors, then at the speedometer and gauges Repeat the sequence Handbook p. 50 ↗ 12–15 seconds Target area to search ahead (the space you'll reach in 12–15 seconds)
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Put it into practice
Twelve seconds ahead you spot a car in a driveway (Identify). It might pull out (Predict). You ease off the gas and check that the left side of your lane is open (Decide). As it rolls forward, you slow and shift left (Execute).
A useful reminder IPDE = Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute. Three 'thinks' and one 'do'.
Check your understanding Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
What does the 'I' in the IPDE system stand for? Inform Identify Indicate Inspect Answer: Identify
IPDE stands for Identify, Predict, Decide, and Execute — a thinking-doing process to avoid collisions.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ In the IPDE system, what does the 'Predict' step involve? Physically steering the vehicle to avoid a hazard Locating hazards by getting the big picture Judging where possible points of conflict may occur Determining precisely what action to take and exactly when Answer: Judging where possible points of conflict may occur
Predict means judging where possible points of conflict may occur, after identifying hazards.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ How many zones make up the zone system around your vehicle? Four Eight Three Six Answer: Six
The zone system consists of six zones, or areas of space, around your vehicle.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ What is an open zone in the zone system? An area with a stop sign present Any area in front of your vehicle Any area behind your vehicle An area you can drive without restrictions to your sight or path Answer: An area you can drive without restrictions to your sight or path
An open zone is an area you can drive through without restrictions to your line of sight or intended path of travel.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ In the orderly visual search pattern, what should you evaluate in the 12-15 second target area? Only the vehicle directly in front of you Your own speedometer and gauges Intersections, driveways, and parked vehicles ahead The condition of your own tires Answer: Intersections, driveways, and parked vehicles ahead
Evaluate your front zones in the 12-15 second target area by searching intersections, driveways, and parked vehicles.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ What is a closed zone in the zone system? Any area more than 500 feet away An area only relevant to highway driving An area restricted by your line of sight or intended path of travel The area directly behind your vehicle at highway speed Answer: An area restricted by your line of sight or intended path of travel
A closed zone is an area that is not open, because of restrictions to your line of sight or path of travel.
Handbook p. 50 ↗ Previous lesson Motorcycle Protective Equipment Next lesson The Smith System More in Defensive Driving Systems About the source Roadwise’s Rhode Island course uses the driver handbook edition supplied with this study pack. This lesson cites source pages 50. The linked PDF is a third-party mirror of the handbook, rather than a government-hosted page.
Open the handbook source PDF · View the source edition
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