Suppose the probability of a car accident taking place anywhere on a 20-mile stretch of highway is the same.Which of the following distributions would you use to determine the probability that a car accident will occur somewhere between the 5-mile and 15-mile posts of the highway?
A)Normal distribution
B)Poisson distribution
C)Uniform distribution
D)Exponential distribution

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The uniform distribution is appropriate when the probability of an event is equally likely for any point within a given range. Since the probability of a car accident is the same anywhere on the 20-mile stretch of highway, the uniform distribution is the most appropriate choice. The probability of an accident occurring between the 5-mile and 15-mile posts would then be (15-5)/(20-0) = 0.5, or 50%.

Suppose the Probability of a Car Accident Taking Place Anywhere