Last June, Endsville installed highway traffic cameras, in the hope

Question

Last June, Endsville installed highway traffic cameras, in the hope that drivers along the highways would reduce their speeds. This June, the number of motorists caught speeding by the traffic cameras is nearly twice that caught last June.

All of the following, if true, can help account for the increase in motorists caught speeding by traffic cameras EXCEPT?

(A) Police, throughout the year, have been increasingly less likely to pull over speeding motorists, since each month more highways in Endsville are equipped with traffic cameras.

(B) This June, compared to the last, saw more than a twofold increase in the number of traffic cameras installed along the highways of Endsville.

(C) In the last year, there has been an influx of residents to Endsville and thus there are more vehicles on the road at any one time.

(D) Along many of the highways installed with traffic cameras, the speed limit has been reduced, sometimes by as much as 10 miles per hour.

(E) Since the cameras are virtually hidden, many motorists remain oblivious to the fact that the city has installed traffic cameras.

KevinRocci · Accepted Answer

Howdy all! I can help with this one! I work at Magoosh and know the true answer.

Everyone who chose (E) is correct!!! Let's see why. The question asks us: All of the following, if true, can help account for the increase in motorists caught speeding by traffic cameras EXCEPT? So, we're not looking for anything about the "net" number of people caught, nor about the relationship between police activity and the cameras. The question stem specifically asks about reasons for "an increase in the number of motorists caught speeding by traffic cameras." Now let's look at (E): Since the cameras are virtually hidden, many motorists remain oblivious to the fact that the city has installed traffic cameras. Again, we're specifically looking for a reason why the cameras caught more people. Don't bring police into the picture, because they're not discussed in the passage, the question, or the answer choice. The point is that last June, there were cameras that the motorists didn't know about, and this June, the situation is the same. There's no change given in (E). If nothing has changed, then that cannot explain the increase in the number caught by cameras. Based on (E), all we know is that the cameras are virtually hidden and many motorists don't know they exist. Does this explain how the drivers caught could have increased? No, it doesn't — because remember, last June the cameras were already installed! In other words, it might make sense that the hidden cameras catch more people than before there were hidden cameras at all. But that's not the case here: here a certain number of people were caught after the cameras were installed, and one year later, twice the number of people were caught. If people aren't aware of the cameras, their behavior shouldn't change unless we have some other reason, but (E) doesn't give that other reason. So (E) is the only one that doesn't explain why more people were caught. I hope that helps!

LighthousePrep · Answer

I believe the correct answer is C. Here is why:

A) Police are not pulling over motorists, and letting cameras do their work for them. This statement draws the fine distinction between police catching someone speeding vs. the cameras catching someone. Also, this could work because police pulling over motorists could be acting as a deterrent. By police no longer doing this, people continue to speed and then later get a ticket, without it being visible to passing by motorists who would have otherwise slowed down.
B) More cameras on roads means more opportunities to catch speeding violations.
C) If there are twice as many cars on the road, I imagine that they would be slowed down.
D) If you lower the speed limit, it takes time for people to learn about it so they might temporarily violate the rule until they become accustomed to the new limit.
E) Hidden cameras mean no deterrence.

ankushbagwale · Answer

My answers D As cameras can exactly pinpoint what is the speed & isssue tickets. Couple that with reduced speed limit more people will get caught as many as two times as they are used to normal speed limit.

aditya8062 · Answer

the answer has to be A  :  Police, throughout the year, have been increasingly less likely to pull over speeding motorists, since each month more highways in Endsville are equipped with traffic cameras.

JusTLucK04 · Answer

Whats the point of such a post??
Please do explain the logic behind your reasoning

I think its E coz in June 2000 the cameras were hidden
In June 2001 the cameras are still hidden..

So whats so special about June- 2001..Nothing..So it does not help to explain the contradiction..

A in fact stregthens in the second part of the statement- since each month more highways in Endsville are equipped with traffic cameras..

E it is

joshnsit · Answer

C couldn't be the answer as number of violators are bound to increase with increase in number of vehicles. In fact, same is the logic/assumption for choice A, B which assumes that speeding offense rate per capita or person will remain constant. For eg. if 2 out of 10 people commit speeding offense on average and if this rate is sustained owing to unchanged behavior, then more cameras(as in A and B) or more cars(or people in those cars) will mean increase in speeding offenses.

LighthousePrep · Answer

I see where you're coming from. I think my flaw in selecting that answer choice was that I didn't see a direct correlation between population and speeding. Where I live, people tend to drive slower when there are more cars on the road because of traffic jams. So I viewed population to be inversely proportional to number of opportunities to speed. And if there are less opportunities to speed, then there would be less speeding tickets. Also, knowing that I shouldn't bring in outside knowledge, nothing in the passage, question or answer choices indicated that there was a correlation between population and speeding. Still I understand that the "cameras were always hidden" choice is the "best" answer. Live and learn.

Thanks!

kinjiGC · Answer

Last June, Endsville installed highway traffic cameras , in the hope that drivers along the highways would reduce their speeds.  This June , the number of motorists caught speeding by the traffic cameras is  nearly twice that caught last June .

All of the following, if true, can help account for the increase in motorists caught speeding by traffic cameras EXCEPT?

So we are looking for difference between last June and this June.

A. Police,  throughout the year , have been increasingly less likely to pull over speeding motorists, since each month more highways in Endsville are equipped with traffic cameras.
 "throughout the year" police are not catching the violators hence there is a difference between Last June and this June

B. T his June, compared to the last , saw more than a twofold increase in the number of traffic cameras installed along the highways of Endsville.
 Difference between last june and this june

C.  In the last year , there has been an influx of residents to Endsville and thus there are more vehicles on the road at any one time.
 Difference between last year and this year . 
 
D. Along many of the highways installed with traffic cameras, the speed limit has been reduced, sometimes by as much as 10 miles per hour.
 Last june cameras are installed and as per the above sentence, the speed limit is reduced on the highway with cameras. So there is a difference between last June and this June.

E. Since the cameras are virtually hidden, many motorists remain oblivious to the fact that the city has installed traffic cameras.
 Cameras last June and this june in both cases are hidden. There is no difference and hence the correct answer

aragonn · Answer

Official Explanation
Answer: (E)

csaluja  - Hope this will be helpful.

With ‘except’ questions, it is best to go through each answer choice. In this case, we are looking for an answer choice that does NOT help explain the increase in motorists caught by traffic cameras.

Initially (A) may seem irrelevant. The last part of the sentence does give helpful info: “…more highways…cameras.”

(B) gives us a good reason for the increase: more traffic cameras.

(C) is out because more vehicles on the road means more cars to ticket.

(D) describes what is known as a speed trap. If there is a sudden drop in the posted limited, motorists are more likely to get tickets. Thus (D) can account for the increase in tickets.

(E) may ostensibly provide an answer for the increase: drivers do not know they are being ticketed. But wait… from the very beginning drivers did not know they were being ticketed. Nothing has therefore changed from one June to the next. Therefore, (E) does not provide any insight into the increase; it is our answer.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can you explain more why (E) is correct?

Again, we're specifically looking for a reason why the cameras caught more people. The point is that last June, there were cameras that the motorists didn't know about, and this June, the situation is the same. Nothing has changed from a year ago: motorists were not aware of the cameras last June and they remain oblivious a year later. There's no change given in (E). If nothing has changed, then that cannot explain the increase in the number caught by cameras.

Why isn’t choice A correct? Doesn’t the fact that police are pulling over fewer motorists mean that (A) does not account for the trend cited in the passage?

We're not concerned with the total number of people caught, nor about the relationship between police activity and the cameras.

The question specifically asks about reasons for "an increase in the number of motorists caught speeding by traffic cameras."

(A) explains this trend because it includes an increase in cameras, which could logically result in an increase in people caught speeding by cameras. As long as there are more cameras being installed and more people are caught that way, it would explain the phenomenon. What the police do is basically irrelevant.

Why isn’t choice C correct?

Firstly, let’s be clear on the phrase “in the last year…” This means that since last June, the population of Endsville has increased. Therefore, there are more vehicles on the road, and this fact can help to explain why more people are getting caught speeding. We don’t have to assume that all the newcomers are speeders, only that some of them will at some point in time speed and be caught by a camera. Therefore the total number of people caught by cameras will have gone up since last year.

What about choice D?

(D) provides a reason for the increase in the number of motorists caught speeding. If there is a sudden drop in the posted speed limit, it's likely that more motorists will be over the now-lower speed limit, so they are more likely to get tickets. Thus (D) can account for the increase in tickets.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Last June, Endsville installed highway traffic cameras, in the hope

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