LSAT 118 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: At the request of Grove Park residents, speed bumps were …

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Installing the speed bumps in Grove Park is unfair.

REASONING:

• The streets were built with public money.
• Grove Park is not private.
• All drivers have a right to use the streets whenever they want.

ANALYSIS: Grove Park isn’t private, everyone should have access …. so speed bumps are unfair? How do speed bumps prevent public access?

The argument is treating slowing drivers down as equivalent to preventing drivers from using the roads. That makes no sense.

Drivers can still use the street. The speed bumps just control how fast they use them.

___________

1. Whether speed bumps actually reduce speeds is irrelevant. The argument is about fairness, not effectiveness. Even ineffective speed bumps could be fair or unfair.
2. High-speed driving might justify the speed bumps, but the author’s reasoning doesn’t depend on whether speeding actually occurs.
3. The author thinks they’re unfair. That doesn’t need complaints from drivers.
4. This is actually close to the opposite of the author’s position. The author argues that residents should not be able to restrict traffic in this way.
5. CORRECT. The author thinks: drivers have a right to use the roads, so speed bumps are unfair. But speed bumps don’t stop you from using the road. They just stop you from … speeding.