Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT113 S2 Q17 Explanation

A safety report indicates that,

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsParadox

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Stimulus

A safety report indicates that, on average, traffic fatalities decline by about 7 percent in those areas in which strict laws requiring drivers and passengers to wear seat belts have been passed. In a certain city, seat belt laws have been in effect for two years, but number of traffic deaths per year has remained the same.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
17.

Which one of the following, if true, does NOT help resolve the apparent discrepancy between the safety report and the

Answer choices

  1. Explains13% picked this

    Two years ago speed limits in the city were increased by as much as 15

    This is a counteracting force. Even though the seat belt law is a force that lowers fatalities, at the same there is a new force (increased speed limit) that can increase fatalities. That's why it's balancing out to be the same number of traffic deaths.

  2. Explains7% picked this

    The city now includes pedestrian fatalities in its yearly total of traffic deaths, whereas two years

    This is a counteracting force. Even though the seat belt law is a force that lowers fatalities, at the same there is a new force (an expanded definition of traffic fatalities) that increases the number of fatalities, according to the city's public safety records. That's why it's balancing out to be the same number of traffic deaths.

  3. Explains11% picked this

    In the time since the seat belt laws were passed, the city has experienced a higher than average

    This is a counteracting force. Even though the seat belt law is a force that's lowering fatalities, at the same there is a new force (more car traffic) that can increase fatalities. That's why it's balancing out to be the same number of traffic deaths.

  4. Explains6% picked this

    Because the city’s seat belt laws have been so rarely enforced, few drivers in the city

    On most EXCEPT questions, 3 of the four answers we're eliminating work one way, and the other 1 works a different way. (A), (B), and (C) resolved the Paradox by showing us some new factor that would increase the number of fatalities, at the same time that the seat belt laws are decreasing fatalities, and that's why it comes out to be around the same number of deaths. Meanwhile (D) resolves the Paradox by suggesting that the new seat belt law isn't actually decreasing fatalities (because people are ignoring it), which explains why we come out to the same number of deaths.

  5. Correct64% picked this

    In the last two years, most of the people killed in car accidents in the city were

    Why this is right

    On the surface, this answer seems similar to (D), but this answer choice is saying something our common sense already knew. This answer is saying, "Most citizens who died in an accident weren't wearing a seat belt during the accident." Choice (D) is saying, "Most citizens in this city don't wear their seat belts when in a car, even when the law requires it". This latter one helps explain why the seatbelt law hasn't done anything to reduce fatalities. How does a seat belt law reduce fatalities? Well, our common sense would tell us, it's supposed to force more people to wear seat belts than would otherwise be wearing seat belts. (D), however, says that the law doesn't actually force more people to wear their belts while driving. How does wearing a seat belt reduce fatalities? Again, common sense knows that when you're not wearing a seat belt, an accident can throw you straight into your windshield, whereas when you're wearing a seat belt, you are way less likely to die, because it keeps you in your seat. In other words, we already know that when people are wearing seat belts they're way less likely to die in an accident. That's why we mandate seat belts. Hence, we already know what this answer is saying --- the people who die in car accidents weren't wearing their seat belts. That was true before and it's still true now. Before the seat belt law was enacted, the people (voluntarily) wearing belts weren't likely to die in accidents. The people not wearing their belts were likely to die. Thus, most of the deaths were from people who weren't wearing belts. Even if the seat belt law causes tons more people to start wearing seat belts, it will still be true that the people wearing belts are unlikely to die and the people not wearing belts are likely to die.

    Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

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