Many governments have passed laws requiring that bicyclists must wear

Question

Many governments have passed laws requiring that bicyclists must wear helmets while riding. Most of these laws in the United States only apply to children; however, there are some jurisdictions, such as Australia, that have laws mandating helmet usage for adults as well. While these laws are intended to reduce the incidence of injuries, some bicycle safety advocates argue that they should be repealed because they can, in some circumstances, have the contrary effect.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the position of the bicycle safety advocates?

A. Classes that teach safe bicycling behaviors have been shown to be a more effective method of reducing injuries than are laws requiring helmets.

B. A driver overtaking a cyclist who is not wearing a helmet is more likely to pass at a safe distance than if the cyclist were wearing a helmet.

C. Bicycle helmet laws have been shown to discourage people from bicycling.

D. Children are more vulnerable to head injuries while bicycling than are adults.

E. In some severe bicycle crashes, a helmet may not prevent traumatic brain injury.

This is a  CR Butler Question

Check the links to other Butler Projects: 
 
   Data Sufficiency Butler 
   Problem Solving Butler  
   Sentence Correction Butler  
   Reading Comprehension Butler  
   Integrated Reasoning Butler

abhilashsingh · Answer

Scope: Despite laws -> incidence of injuries doesn't reduce

A. Classes that teach safe bicycling behaviors have been shown to be a more effective method of reducing injuries than are laws requiring helmets.

B.  A driver overtaking a cyclist who is not wearing a helmet is more likely to pass at a safe distance than if the cyclist were wearing a helmet.

C. Bicycle helmet laws have been shown to discourage people from bicycling.

D. Children are more vulnerable to head injuries while bicycling than are adults.

E. In some severe bicycle crashes, a helmet may not prevent traumatic brain injury.

pudu · Answer

Here we have to chose an answer that highlights the negative effects of wearing helmet. The option B( A driver overtaking a cyclist who is not wearing a helmet is more likely to pass at a safe distance than if the cyclist were wearing a helmet) clearly doing it. Hence B

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

This is an Explain question; you're asked to explain the seemingly paradoxical position of the bicycle safety advocates, so your first task is to understand their position. Some governments have passed mandatory helmet laws in order to reduce bicycling injuries. However, safety advocates think that sometimes, these laws may produce the opposite result; in other words, that they may actually increase the number of injuries.

It's impossible to make a specific prediction here, as there are many facts that could explain this position. What you can predict, though, is that the right answer will be a fact that explains how bicycle helmets might cause injuries.  (B) does exactly that.  If a driver is more likely to drive safely around a bicyclist without a helmet, then it's possible that mandating helmet usage would actually make bicycling more dangerous as cars would not give bicyclists as much room. This is the correct answer.

(A) explains that there may be better ways for the government to achieve its goals than mandatory helmet laws but does nothing to explain how these laws could cause injuries. (C) may be tempting; you might think that this would be a downside of helmet laws because bicycle safety advocates would presumably like to see more people bicycling. However, like (A), it does not address the advocates' concern about safety. (D) only makes the position of the safety advocates more difficult to explain, as it provides a reason that at least some people—children—should wear helmets. (E) shows that helmets may not be effective in severe crashes, but this does not mean that they aren't effective in less severe crashes, nor does it show how they would increase the likelihood of injuries.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.

Many governments have passed laws requiring that bicyclists must wear

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Many governments have passed laws requiring that bicyclists must wear

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards