LSAT 145 – Section 4 – Question 19

LSAT 145 - Section 4 - Question 19

December 2015

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT145 S4 Q19
+LR
Weaken +Weak
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
62%
166
B
1%
154
C
7%
163
D
29%
161
E
1%
154
147
158
170
 +Harder 148.528 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Live Commentary

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Studies have shown that pedestrians are struck by cars when crossing streets in crosswalks more often than they are struck when crossing outside of crosswalks. This is because crosswalks give many pedestrians an overly strong sense of security that oncoming cars will follow the signals, and these pedestrians are less likely to look both ways before crossing the street.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that pedestrians feel too safe in crosswalks and don’t watch for oncoming cars. To support his hypothesis, he notes a correlation: pedestrians get hit by cars more often when crossing at crosswalks than when crossing anywhere else.

Notable Assumptions
Based on a mere correlation, the author concludes that the cause of increased accidents in crosswalks must be because pedestrians behave less safely when crossing there. But there could be other possible causes that would explain why more pedestrians get hit in crosswalks. Perhaps there are simply many more pedestrians crossing at crosswalks than anywhere else, and so more accidents occur there. Or perhaps it’s not the pedestrians who get careless in crosswalks, but the drivers. The author assumes these alternative explanations aren’t true.

A
The overwhelming majority of pedestrians in high-traffic areas cross streets in crosswalks.
This is a good alternative explanation for why more pedestrians get hit in crosswalks: that’s just where most pedestrians cross! If this is true, the author’s explanation is weakened—we have less reason to think that pedestrians are being especially unsafe in crosswalks.
B
The number of pedestrians struck by cars has increased in recent years.
This compares the number of pedestrians getting hit by cars everywhere over time. That’s the wrong comparison. We need to understand why more pedestrians are hit in one place (crosswalks) than any other place at a given time.
C
Pedestrians tend to underestimate the chances that the signals at a crosswalk will malfunction.
Too many unknowns. We have no idea how often this happens, or what the safety effects of this are. Perhaps this only causes a negligible uptick in pedestrians being struck by cars. Or perhaps this actually reduces accidents, because the signal’s stuck on “don’t walk”!
D
Drivers are generally most alert to pedestrians who are in or near crosswalks.
This strengthens the author's explanation by eliminating the alternative hypothesis that drivers are the careless ones rather than pedestrians.
E
Measures intended to promote safety tend to make people less cautious.
Crosswalks are one such measure. This supports the author’s argument.

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LSAT PrepTest 145 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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