LSAT 155 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q8

LR Question 8 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Statistics show clearly that in those countries with…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: The claim that would-be drunk drivers are not deterred by penalties is refuted by the statistics.

REASONING: The statistics show that drunk driving is lower in countries with harsher penalties.

ANALYSIS: This argument is not terrible. However, it might be too early to conclude that the laws led to a decrease in drunk driving. It’s possible that the countries with harsh drunk driving penalties already had low rates and wanted to keep them low. The correct answer will drive a wedge in the relationship and show that the correlation is not a causation – that is, it will probably give an alternate explanation for the low drunk driving rates in those countries.

___________

1. This doesn’t tell us why the rates are so low in the countries with harsh penalties. Also – this answer is preying on people who are looking for an error to do with the number of drunk drivers. It wants you to think “Well of course large countries have more drunk drivers!”. However, the question specifies by percentage. So this doesn’t work here.
2. CORRECT. This tells us that those countries probably already had low drunk driving rates, and the penalties may not actually be deterring anyone.
3. This really doesn’t have anything to do with the argument. We don’t know anything about these countries’ speed limits or overall accident rates.
4. This may be true, but it’s not relevant to the argument. If we knew that the countries with less strict laws policed more aggressively, it would be a good answer.
5. This doesn’t explain the discrepancy in drunk driver accident rates between countries with harsher penalties and those with looser penalties.

Recap: The question begins with “Statistics show clearly that in those countries with”. It is a Weaken question. Learn more about LSAT Weaken questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.