LSAT 6 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q7

LR Question 7 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Head injury is the most serious type of injury sustained…

QUESTION TYPE: Necessary Assumption

CONCLUSION: Other jurisdictions should force motorcycle riders to wear helmets. They should also force horseback riders to wear helmets for the same reason as they support helmet laws.

REASONING: Helmet laws reduce the cost of motorcycle injuries. States pay for medical care following a crash.

The argument doesn’t tell us anything about horseback riders except that they are vulnerable to head injuries.

ANALYSIS: We know that helmets prevent injuries for motorcycle riders. We also know that taxpayers pay when they get injured.

We don’t know if either of these two things are true for horseback riders: they are therefore necessary assumptions.

___________

1. CORRECT. The stimulus only supports helmet laws because they save money for taxpayers. If taxpayers don’t pay for horse injuries there are no savings.
2. It doesn’t matter why the injury rate is higher. The main point is that it could (presumably) be reduced with a helmet law.
3. Not necessary as long as the costs can be reduced by wearing a helmet.
4. This helps the argument, but it’s only necessary that some injuries could have been prevented.
5. Not necessary. In fact the primary concern seems to be cost.

Recap: The question begins with “Head injury is the most serious type of injury sustained”. It is a Necessary Assumption question. Learn how to master LSAT Necessary questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.