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

Question

Editorialist: Some people argue that highway speed limits should be increased to reflect the actual average speeds of highway drivers, which are currently 10 to 20 percent higher than posted speed limits. Any such increase would greatly decrease highway safety, however; as past experience teaches, higher average highway speeds would result, since even though most drivers who currently violate posted speed limits would obey higher ones, almost all drivers who obey current speed limits would likely increase their speed.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the editorialist’s argument?

(A) Some drivers who obey current speed limits would not change their speeds after the introduction of the new speed limits.
(B) Uniformity of speeds among vehicles is more important for highway safety than is a low average highway speed.
(C) Most drivers who drive 10 to 20 percent faster than current speed limits have never been involved in a highway accident.
(D) Some drivers who violate current speed limits would also violate higher speed limits.
(E) Most drivers who violate current speed limits determine their speeds by what they believe to be safe in the situation.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

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.

100mitra · Answer

Correct option B

Conclusion:  Increase in speed limit law --> decrease in safety.
(Option B) : Uniformity of speeds  among vehicles is  more important  for highway safety than is a low  average highway speed , this counter conclusion and demean the purpose of increase in speed limit law will decrease in safety, safety is assured only the vehicles not clash with each other, for which distance must be kept properly

Wrong Answers:

(Option A) Supports the argument that most drivers who currently violate posted speed limits would obey higher ones.

(Option C) The percentage of drivers who violate current speed limits and 
that are involved in accidents does not tell us 
whether highway safety would be decreased by raising the speed limit.

(Option D) supports the argument.

(Option E) Most of these people would not violate the new speed limit. 
The argument is that if the slow people start driving faster, 
that highway safety would be decreased - irrelevant

trinitygmat · Answer

Shouldn't the answer be (A).
 (A) Some drivers who obey current speed limits would not change their speeds after the introduction of the new speed limits. 
Although I am skeptical because of the word 'Some', I think it weakens the argument in that the stated behaviour of the above drivers would not increase average speeds and hence not impact road safety that much.

sivatx2 · Answer

The argument concludes the higher the speed limit, the higher will be the average speed and hence the lower the road safety. It could not always that average higher speed that may be causing accidents. If for example, some drivers are drunk & recklessly driving in different speeds can also increase the risk of safety. Or if the person are deliberately driving very slow where they're supposed to maintain the speed in highways can also cause accidents.

(A) Some drivers who obey current speed limits would not change their speeds after the introduction of the new speed limits. 
 If this is the case it is unknown whether there will be increase or decrease in safety. Eliminate

(B) Uniformity of speeds among vehicles is more important for highway safety than is a low average highway speed. 
 This is correct as when all drivers maintains relatively same speed, there will be higher road safety. If there are multiple drivers on road at the same time, and driving in their own speed, then it increases the difficult in driving for all the drivers and hence reduces the safety. This will weaken the argument. Keep

(C) Most drivers who drive 10 to 20 percent faster than current speed limits have never been involved in a highway accident. 
 This does not tell us how the safety is at risk, and hence irrelevant to the argument. Eliminate

(D) Some drivers who violate current speed limits would also violate higher speed limits. 
 This is a strengthener to the argument. We are looking for option that will undermine the argument. Eliminate.

(E) Most drivers who violate current speed limits determine their speeds by what they believe to be safe in the situation. 
 This change in the mindset of the drivers who violate may or may not lead to risk in safety. For example, when the road is empty, the increase in speed may not cause accident and when more drivers on the road, an increase in speed can lead to safety risk. Hence, this option is irrelevant to the argument and cannot weaken it. Eliminate

So, B is the best answer choice.

kskumar · Answer

I understood the argument arrived at the answer choice (B), But if there were a scenario where we have less time in the actual exam, can we Eliminate the answer choices by the key words Like Some, Few, most, etc, in the above example A, C, D, E mention these keywords. As per my knowledge, those keywords will have very little or more than 50% or 100% impact.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Eliminating CR choices on the basis of the fact that they include certain keywords can work some of the time, but it isn't reliable. For one thing, a question writer who is aware that test-takers eliminate choices that include certain keywords can use those keywords in correct answers to eliminate the possibility that test-takers will get questions correct by simply eliminating choices that include certain words.

So, yes, in a pinch, you could use that approach, but you're better off not planning to use that approach. People who try to use simple hacks for answering GMAT verbal questions generally end up pretty disappointed with their verbal scores.

For some more insights related to this topic, you could read this post on  How to Score High on GMAT Verbal .

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi trinitygmat.

Notice that the passage states that "almost all drivers who obey current speed limits would likely increase their speed."

Choice (A) basically agrees with that fact. After all, the fact that "almost all" drivers would increase their speed means that "some" drivers would not increase their speeds.

So, choice (A) does not provide any new information.

VerbalBot · Answer

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