Editorialist: Some people argue that highway speed limits should be in

EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT

My first idea on this question is, “Do higher speeds actually decrease highway safety?” Because if not, then the logic here just makes no sense. We’re asked to weaken the argument, so my prediction is, “Higher speeds do not decrease highway safety.” That seems almost too easy. Let’s look at the answer choices.

A) This doesn’t kill the argument, because even if some drivers don’t increase their speeds, others who did increase their speeds could still hurt safety. I doubt this is it.

B) If this is true, then the argument is in trouble. The author says that if higher limits are posted, the drivers who currently break the old limits will obey the new limits. And the author says that almost all drivers who obey the old limits will increase their speed after new limits are posted. This would seem to suggest that there will be more uniformity of speed between cars at the new higher limit. If uniformity outweighs average speed for safety concerns, then how would raising the limit cause a net decrease in safety? I like this answer.

C) Whether people have “usually” been involved in accidents is in no way relevant. The only thing relevant here is whether the new higher limits will decrease safety. This is a terrible answer.

D) This is bad in the way that answer A is bad. The editorialist seems to acknowledge that a few drivers won’t act as predicted. The editorialist says “most drivers,” and “almost all drivers.” This logic leaves open the inevitable outliers who don’t follow the pattern. I don’t see how this really weakens the argument.

E) I’m not sure this is relevant, because the editorialist says that under the new, higher limit most drivers are going to be obeying the law. So I don’t think E would even apply to the scenario of new higher limits.

Answer B was a pretty good answer, so we’ve got to go with that.­