There’s a surprising number of different driving techniques and disciplines that you’ll be taught when you’re learning how to drive for the first time. Alongside the basics, such as parking and maneuvering in traffic, there’s also the art of defensive driving, where you’ll understand how to best react to obstacles or hazards on the road. The foremost defensive driving strategy that a lot of driving school instructors, DMV examiners, and experienced drivers stand by is IPDE.
Otherwise known as Identify, Predict, Decide, and Execute – get it, I-P-D-E? – it’ll teach you how to 1) identify obstacles on the road, 2) predict possible outcomes, 3) decide on a good course of action, and 4) execute your plan to avoid the obstacle in question. It sounds rather complicated, but trust me, the IPDE defensive driving technique has saved my bacon more than once. It teaches you how to be more wary of your surroundings, make informed decisions quickly, and execute effective actions to avoid getting into a nasty accident.
So, here’s a more thorough breakdown of the IPDE school of defensive driving, as well as how you can apply and practice them:
1) Identify
The ‘I’ in IPDE stands for Identity, so step 1 is all about recognizing and detecting any potential danger or hazard around you. This could be keeping an eye out for other vehicles, pedestrians, animals, cyclists, traffic signals, or even the condition of the road. The goal here is to be able to detect these potential hazards and dangers as early as possible, thus giving you more time to react to them later on.
Here’s how you can effectively identify possible dangers around you, as you’re driving around:
- Scanning the road constantly, ahead of you, to the side, and using your mirrors – side and rear – to maintain a complete 360-degree awareness around you.
- Be situationally aware of changes in traffic flow, road surface conditions, and even inclement weather patterns, among others.
- You should also use visual cues, such as being able to identify the speed and position of other vehicles on the road, not to mention what pedestrians are doing, or road signs and signals.
- Remember to regularly check your blind spots too, especially when you’re trying to change lanes or merge with fast-moving traffic, ensuring that there’s no one or nothing in the way.
- Additionally, watch out for the unpredictable, such as a child playing near the street, a car that was parked awkwardly, or an animal running across the road.
There are tons of scenarios where being able to identify potential hazards as you’re driving could save your life. For example, spotting that a pedestrian far ahead is stepping off the curb and is moving onto the road, or if the car in front of you is slowing down suddenly, providing you with time to avoid last-minute and sudden braking or lane changes. Then, there’s harsh weather, which could leave behind patches of ice or deep puddles on the road.
2) Predict
Moving onto step 2, the ‘P’ stands for Predict, guiding you on how to speedily predict and anticipate the actions of other road users or potential hazards, before or just as they’re now happening. It’s all about forecasting the ‘what ifs’ should the worst come to worst, and you’re not able to take preventive action. As such, it allows you to predict the most likely outcomes and what to do to get around or survive the aforementioned dangers on the road.
Here’s how you can predict potential hazards around you to best prep for what comes next:
- Try your best to anticipate the actions of other drivers or road users, like a vehicle that won’t use their turn signals when turning, or a car that randomly cuts you off in the middle of traffic.
- It’s also handy to assess the weather and how that impacts both the condition of the road and your driving style. You should be able to tell, for instance, that wet roads lead to worse braking.
- Meanwhile, it helps to continuously assess your surroundings and try to foresee what hazards might appear, based on the speed, distance, and direction of travel of other drivers.
- Another helpful trait is being able to estimate and judge just how much time you’d have to react to a potential hazard, such as an oncoming vehicle barrelling towards you.
- As they say, always expect the unexpected, so be sure that you consider less obvious dangers, such as another driver suddenly swerving towards you to avoid debris on the road.
The most common scenario where being able to predict would-be dangers can make a huge difference is when another car runs a red light, which you can predict by seeing just how fast they’re speeding towards the intersection. Alternatively, if you see a child playing near a road with a ball or toy, you could also reasonably predict that they might suddenly run out into the road, and you can later prepare or react to this by covering the brake pedal.
3) Decide
Next up, we have ‘D’, which stands for Decide, where you’re now left with trying to decide on the best course of action to mitigate or avoid a potential hazard on the road, based on all the predictions you made. While there are different ways to decide on what to do and when, a good course of action is to decide upon a safe response to minimize risk, reduce damage, as well as make sure that everyone on the road remains safe.
Here’s what will influence how you decide on the best, safest course of action:
- Developing quick and efficient decision-making skills will help with responding to any potential hazards effectively and quickly.
- Similarly, risk assessment is something you’ll have to get used to, by weighing the risks of the many options you can decide on, such as braking hard or steering out of the way.
- When you’re trying to decide, always consider every option available to you, whether it’s trying to slow down, change lanes, accelerate, or stop, depending on the dangers ahead.
- Remember that making a decision isn’t just about you, but also about other drivers, so be sure to use your turn signals, horns, or lights to communicate your intent with other road users.
- When there’s dense traffic, fast-moving vehicles, and lots of pedestrians around, or if you’re going to approach an intersection, it’s wise to make your decision far in advance.
Some situations where making a quick decision in the IPDE strategy of defensive driving can be applied effectively include deciding to slow down when approaching an intersection, where it might be hard to spot other road users or potential hazards. Alternatively, there are times that I’ve braked hard and early in anticipation of a potential collision with a car in front of me that’s braked or stopped suddenly in the middle of a road.
4) Execute
The final step in the IPDE technique of defensive driving is ‘E’, for Execute. This is the moment when you take physical action and implement what you’ve been able to decide on. Should you slow down and stop, or should you steer hard into the next lane? That’s up to you to decide, and the IPDE driving technique teaches you on how to best execute these actions, operating your vehicle’s brakes, steering, or throttle.
Here are some tips for effectively executing your defensive driving instincts:
- Whether you’ve opted to brake, steer, or accelerate out of the way of danger, it’s important to make sure that you’ve executed them smoothly to maintain optimal control over your vehicle.
- Nevertheless, it’s just as vital to react timely and execute your plans quickly, acting on all your decisions with precise timing to best avoid hazards.
- With that in mind, you need to think and act quickly when it comes to unexpected changes in the situation, too. For example, if someone gets in the way, you need to adjust your actions accordingly.
- Your car has most than just those few controls I mentioned earlier, so remember to use all of them. This includes your turn signals, lights, or mirrors, ensuring that other drivers know what you’re doing.
- Still, even once you’re past the danger and have executed your IPDE driving before you move on, make sure you continue to scan your surroundings for other hazards, as well.
Some examples and scenarios for executing your IPDE defensive driving actions include trying to brake suddenly to avoid a rear-end collision when the car in front of you stops abruptly. Or, maybe you notice a large pothole or piece of debris on the road up ahead, and you attempt to quickly and smoothly steer out of the way. Even simple things like accelerating quickly to try and merge onto a highway filled with fast-moving traffic also count for IPDE, too.