Examination of Roadblock Probabilities in

Need for Speed Undercover

By: Johnathon ein

Research Problem
As a frequenter of Need for Speed Undercover, I have wondered where the optimal position
is to drive to minimize the possibility of running over a spie strip! I suspect that spie strips are more
often located on the left side of the road than on the right! "o discover if I am right, I will be collecting
a very large sample on the occurrence of different types of roadblocs!
St!dy "escription
An observational study will be done to compare the proportions of each type of road bloc
encountered! "he study will be conducted using a #ugatti $eyron %&ainted blue and upgraded with the
ultimate pacages in all categories' driving only on the highway! (nce there is a federal pursuit being
conducted by &orsche and)or SU$ units, roadblocs of a specific type will be tallied for each time they
are encountered! If the driver runs over a spie belt and pops any number of tires, the game will be
restarted and the process will start all over again!
"he types of roadblocs, as shown below are only differentiated by the presence of a spie
stripe, the relative location of the spie strip, and the number of cars that constitute the roadbloc! "he
types of the cars in the roadbloc, for e*ample &orsche or SU$, will be ignored! If a road bloc is
encountered that contains any number of civic units %appear white' as apposed to federal units %appear
blac', that road bloc will not be tallied!
#ypes of Roadblocks
"ype + %,eft-oriented spie strip'
"ype . %/ight-oriented spie strip'
"ype 0 %,eft-oriented spie strip'
"ype 1 %No spie strip and . cars'
"ype 2 %No spie strip and 0 or more cars'
"ype 3 %4enter-oriented spie strip'
$bservations%"ata
"ype of
/oadbloc
+ . 0 1 2 3
Number of
/oadblocs
encountered

56 6. 16 .. 16 +7
Spie strip %"ypes +,.,0,3' No spie strip %"ypes 1,2'
Number of /oadblocs
encountered
.06 87
,eft-oriented spie strip %"ypes +,0' /ight-oriented spie strip %"ype .'
Number of /oadblocs
encountered
+13 6.
"otal Number of roadblocs encountered 9 076
Statistical &nalysis
:etermining whether a left-oriented road bloc is significantly more liely!
;o< = 9 !2, where = is the proportion of road blocs with spie strips that are left-oriented
;a< = > !2, where = is the proportion of road blocs with spie strips that are left-oriented
n 9 +13 ? 6. 9 ..6 p 9 +13)..6 9 !317
"!4!
S/S '
n= @ +7 ..6%!2' @ +7 '
n%+-=' @ +7 ..6%!2' @ +7 '
+-&roportion A-test
z 9 1!.05
p-value 9 !7777++0
I reBect the null hypothesis that left- and right-oriented spie strips are equally liely because the p-
value is e*tremely low at the significance level C 9 !72 ! "his study supports the conclusion that left-
oriented spie strips are more common in Need for Speed Undercover!
(oncl!sions in (ontext
"his study provides significant evidence that left-oriented spie strip are more common!
"herefore, eeping your car on the right side of the road limits the chance of running over a spie strips
during a cop chase! It is interesting that the game would be programmed without this ind of variable
being completely random, especially since there seems to be no logical reason for the spie strips to be
one way or the other!