In 1974 the speed limit on highways in the United States was reduced to 55 miles per hour in order to save fuel. In t...
wattsd381April 14, 2020
Explanation to the question
Hello, Can you all please provide an explanation or review to this question. I noticed that breakdown of the questions stopped at question number 13. The break down of the questions really help with the learning process and techniques of the Strengthening questions.
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Thanks for the question! Let’s take a look at the stimulus. Basically, we’re told that the speed limit was cut in 1974, and then afterwards, highway fatalities dropped. As a result, the author argues that the speed limit reduction in 1974 saved lives. Now we’re looking for an answer choice that strengthens the argument.
(A) tells us that less people were driving because of the fuel shortage. If this is true, there might have just been fewer accidents because less people were on the roads, which would be because of the fuel shortage and not the speed limit. So this actually weakens the argument, and (A) is wrong.
(B) tells us that there was no decline in the 12th year after the reduction in speed limit. This is pretty irrelevant to the argument, unless we were given information like the speed limit was increased in the 12th year, which we weren’t, so (B) is wrong.
(C) tells us that people were required in 1974 to increase safety measures in their cars. That means that the decreased fatality could be because of those safety measures, as opposed to the speed limit being lowered. This weakens the argument, and (C) is out.
(D) tells us that fatality rate for motorists going over 55 mph is higher than motorists who go lower than those speeds. But if this is true, then this supports the idea that it was the fact that the speed limit was lowered that helped decrease the highway fatality rate. So (D) seems to strengthen the argument, and ends up being the right answer after comparing it to the others.
(E) tells us that motorists are more likely to avoid accidents by matching their speed as opposed to driving at faster or slower speeds. This suggests that the speed itself is irrelevant, which weakens the argument that the speed limit reduction helped lower the fatality rate. So (E) is wrong.
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any further questions that you might have.
