Official Explanation

Argument Evaluation

The argument suggests that passengers involved in automobile accidents in the United States typically are more seriously injured than those in Europe. Furthermore, in Europe, a different safety belt design is used. The argument suggests that these European-style safety belts are more protective against serious injury than those used in the United States. Furthermore, it suggests that the United States would therefore benefit by adopting more stringent design standards for safety belts.

To clarify, the rate of severe injuries would indicate, for example, the number of seriously injured passengers per 100,000 passengers involved in automobile accidents. Note that this rate does not depend on the total number of passengers involved in automobile accidents.

However, many other factors could provide an alternative explanation for these differences in rate of severe injury. The question stem asks us which answer choice does NOT weaken the argument; in other words, we must find a factor among the answer choices that does NOT account for this difference in the rate of severe injury. Effectively, we will be looking for the answer that has no bearing on the rate of severe injury.

Which one of the statements given does NOT weaken the argument?

A. This choice weakens the argument. It suggests the possibility that the difference in rates of severe injury is due to the number of people who actually wear safety belts in the U.S. versus in Europe. This rate is, of course, irrespective of the functionality of the belts themselves. In other words, the effectiveness of the belt design is irrelevant if the belt is not being worn in the first place.

B. This choice weakens the argument. Training to understand how to minimize injury, rather than a safety belt design difference, may be a primary factor accounting for the lower severe injury rate in Europe.

C. This choice weakens the argument. The fact that cars constructed in Europe are more sturdy may account for the lower severe injury rate in Europe rather than the difference in the types of safety belts used.

D. Correct. This choice does not weaken the argument. The higher likelihood that one is involved in an automobile accident in the U.S. actually has no bearing on the higher rate of severe injury among passengers who are involved in automobile accidents. That is, the rate itself is a proportion of the total number of passengers involved in accidents rather than the number itself. This rate would remain the same whether 10 accidents or 10 million accidents occurred.

E. This answer choice suggests that even implementation within the United States of the European safety belt design does not seem to change serious injury rates. This implies, of course, that some other factor is likely responsible for the differences in rates of serious injury between the U.S. and Europe.

The correct answer is D.