Identify predict decide execute — Wyoming Permit Test

Identify predict decide execute on the Wyoming permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

In the IPDE method, Identify means scanning for any person, vehicle, animal or thing that could make you slow down, speed up or turn; these are critical objects.

You cannot avoid a danger you have not noticed, so naming it early buys time to act.

IDENTIFY: Defensive drivers scan for any person, vehicle, animal or anything else that could cause them to slow down, speed up or turn.
Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.73

In the IPDE method, when you identify a critical object you predict what could happen, and you predict the worst.

Planning for the worst means you are ready if the other person makes a mistake, such as a parked driver pulling out without looking.

They predict the worst.
Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.73

In the IPDE method, decisions are based on what can be done to prevent a crash, not on who is right or wrong.

Being in the right does not undo a crash, so the only thing worth deciding is how to avoid one.

DECIDE: Decisions are based on what can be done to prevent a crash, and not who is right or who is wrong.
Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.73

Defensive driving means every response to a critical object is the result of a decision, not a reaction to an unexpected danger.

A sudden reaction like a panic swerve is often worse than the danger itself; a planned move is not.

Defensive driving means that all responses to a critical object are the result of a decision and not a reaction to an unexpected danger.
Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.73

The final step of IPDE is to execute your decision in a smooth, predictable manner and in time to avoid a crash.

Jerky or late moves surprise the drivers around you and can cause the very crash you were trying to avoid.

The final step in the IPDE Method of defensive driving is to execute the decision in a smooth, predictable manner and in time to avoid a crash.
Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.73

On the test

In the IPDE method, what is a critical object?

Anything that could make you change speed or turn. You cannot avoid a danger you have not noticed, so naming it early buys time to act. Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, p.73: “IDENTIFY: Defensive drivers scan for any person, vehicle, animal or anything else that could cause them to slow down, speed up or turn.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Wyoming Rules of the Road Driver License Manual, published by the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.