Bicycle safety expert: Bicycling on the left half of the road is much

Question

Bicycle safety expert:  Bicycling on the left half of the road is much more likely to lead to collisions with automobiles than is bicycling on the right. After all, in three different studies of bicycle-automobile collisions, the bicyclist was riding on the left in 15, 17, and 25 percent of the cases, respectively.

Skeptic:  But in places where a comparatively high percentage of bicyclists used to ride on the left, there was surprisingly little decrease in collisions between bicyclists and automobiles after bicycling on the left was made illegal.

Which one of the following statements about places that have outlawed bicycling on the left half of the road, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy between the bicycle safety expert’s claim and the facts cited by the skeptic?

(A) These places also have laws about other aspects of bicycling safety.

(B) These places provide bicycle-safety education programs for teenagers.

(C) Police officers in these places do not enforce regulations that apply to bicyclists.

(D) Large numbers of adults as well as children ride bicycles in these places.

(E) Collisions between bicyclists and automobiles constitute about one-quarter of the bicycle accidents in these places.

kntombat · Answer

Hey  Sajjad1994 , could you please post the OE for this question as and when possible, I would love to know where I went wrong.

Thanks a ton.

rounakkedia172 · Answer

BSE: Bicyclist who ride on the left are more likely to collide with AMs.
S: The number of collisions after ban has not decreased by much.

(A) These places also have laws about other aspects of bicycling safety. 
Other safety laws is not the issue. Why the numbers have not decreased by much after ban? Does not resolve the paradox.

(B) These places provide bicycle-safety education programs for teenagers. 
If safety programs are being provided then the numbers should decrease significantly. Out.

(C) Police officers in these places do not enforce regulations that apply to bicyclists.
yes. The ban is on - in line with BSE reasoning, but the number is still not decreasing because it is not being enforced - in line with S. Explains the paradox.

(D) Large numbers of adults as well as children ride bicycles in these places. 
the number of people is not the issue. Banning should have resulted in significant decrease in number of collisions.

(E) Collisions between bicyclists and automobiles constitute about one-quarter of the bicycle accidents in these places. 
Actual numbers does not to help explain the paradox.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

We have to take both arguments into account. The expert argues that bicycling on the left is more dangerous than bicycling on the right. The skeptic challenges this by pointing out that after bicycling on the left was outlawed, there wasn’t that large a decrease in bicycle-automobile collisions (contrary to what the expert would expect). So the right answer to this Paradox question will explain how both the expert and the skeptic can have valid arguments. And if  (C)  is true, then it’s still possible for bicycling on the left to be more dangerous. The ban on left-side riding just isn’t enforced, so the number of collisions due to bicycling on the left wouldn’t change. Keep an eye out for wrong answer choices that drift outside the scope of the discrepancy; such answers can be dispatched with quickly and ruthlessly.

(A)  Other aspects of bicycling safety are outside the scope of either speaker’s argument, and thus wouldn’t properly resolve this discrepancy.

(B), (D)  It isn’t demonstrated that the frequency of bicycle-automobile collisions has anything to do with the age of motorists or bicyclists, so these choices that focus on age groups won’t help at all.

(E) , like  (C) , introduces the irrelevant concept of bicycle-automobile collisions as a proportion of all bicycle accidents, which doesn’t matter because we’re only concerned with resolving a discrepancy involving bicycle-automobile collisions.

Answer: C

This is not Official explanation rather belongs to Kaplan LSAT

Bicycle safety expert: Bicycling on the left half of the road is much

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Bicycle safety expert: Bicycling on the left half of the road is much

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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