Statistics published by the U.S. Department of Transportation show tha

Official Explanation

The reasoning in the argument is representative of the fallacy of false cause. Common sense tells you that you are not necessarily safer driving at higher speeds. Moreover, the distance you are from your home does not necessarily make you more or less safe. And it will not do to engage in wild speculation, e.g., people suddenly become more attentive at speeds over 45 miles per hour. The exam is just not that subtle. Rather we should look for a fairly obvious alternative explanation, and we find it in (E).

The real reason there are fewer fatalities at speeds over 50 miles per hour and at a distance greater than 25 miles from home is that less driving time is logged under such conditions. Most driving originates at home and proceeds at speeds set for residential areas.

(A), (B), and (C) all seem to make plausible statements, but they are irrelevant to the claim made in the stem paragraph. It is difficult to see how they could either weaken or strengthen the argument.

(D) has the merit of addressing the statistics used to support the argument, but without further information (D) does not weaken the argument—it merely makes an observation. To be sure, if we knew that states were notoriously bad at gathering statistics, (D) could weaken the argument. But that requires speculation, and we always prefer an obvious answer such as (E).

The correct answer is (E).