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Sedans

by adi_800 » Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:18 am
Although large sedans make up only 17 percent of the cars on the road, they are the impacted cars in 25 percent of all rear-end collisions. On the other hand, sports cars, which represent 12 percent of cars on the road, are the impacted cars in only 6 percent of rear-end collisions.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the data described above?
A. The large size of sedans makes their braking distance longer than average, increasing the chances that they will be unable to stop in time to avoid hitting an obstacle.
B. Many drivers of large sedans drive more slowly than average drivers, increasing the probability that other drivers will follow too closely.
C. Sports cars tend to have powerful brakes for their size, making their braking distance much shorter than that of most cars that follow them.
D. The number of large sedans on the road has been steadily increasing in recent years.
E. Large sedans are often driven by older drivers with slower reflexes.

How to eliminate between A, B , C
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by mathewmithun » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:01 am
Although large sedans make up only 17 percent of the cars on the road, they are the impacted cars in 25 percent of all rear-end collisions. On the other hand, sports cars, which represent 12 percent of cars on the road, are the impacted cars in only 6 percent of rear-end collisions.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the data described above?
A. The large size of sedans makes their braking distance longer than average, increasing the chances that they will be unable to stop in time to avoid hitting an obstacle.
B. Many drivers of large sedans drive more slowly than average drivers, increasing the probability that other drivers will follow too closely.
C. Sports cars tend to have powerful brakes for their size, making their braking distance much shorter than that of most cars that follow them.
D. The number of large sedans on the road has been steadily increasing in recent years.
E. Large sedans are often driven by older drivers with slower reflexes.

How to eliminate between A, B , C

A-rear-end collision is unclear whether sedan are colliding on other car's rear end or their rear end is being impacted after an accident, so out of scope
B- same as A
C-same as A and B
D-does no explain much
E-A good reason why sedans are having higher collision rates...

So my choice is E...
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by selfmade » Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:36 am
Here is my explaination. Please let me know if that sounds logical.

The question asks us to best explain the data described above - Kind of an inference question.

We have 2 facts

1. Large sedan cars constitutes large percent of cars on road and are more in the impacted cars in rear-end collisions.

2. Sports cars constitute little less percent of cars on road and are also less number in the impacted cars in rear-end collisions

Since this question is asking about inference, we should find the option that always holds true based on the information given in passage (only).

D and E can easily eliminated as out of scope.

C can be eliminated as well, because passage doesn't tell us anything about the breaks of sports car.

B talks about the drivers - out of scope again.

Lets look at A - The passage tells us that

1. sedans are big cars --- > We can infer that long cars have their breaking distance longer
2. sedans are the impacted cars in rear-end collisions ( But the passage does not mention specifically that sedans are always hit by some other car from back or sedans hit some car at the back ... only information we know is in most of the cases, sedans are the once, who get impacted. )
---- > we can infer that, since sedans are big cars and have the longer breaking distance , chances are that they will be unable to stop in time to avoid hitting an onstacle.

So answer is A.
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by reply2spg » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:51 pm
IMO answer is B.

A is out because passage talks about rear end collision while A talks about front end collision. Other than A and B, I don't find anything in the scope.
adi_800 wrote:Although large sedans make up only 17 percent of the cars on the road, they are the impacted cars in 25 percent of all rear-end collisions. On the other hand, sports cars, which represent 12 percent of cars on the road, are the impacted cars in only 6 percent of rear-end collisions.

Which of the following, if true, best explains the data described above?
A. The large size of sedans makes their braking distance longer than average, increasing the chances that they will be unable to stop in time to avoid hitting an obstacle.
B. Many drivers of large sedans drive more slowly than average drivers, increasing the probability that other drivers will follow too closely.
C. Sports cars tend to have powerful brakes for their size, making their braking distance much shorter than that of most cars that follow them.
D. The number of large sedans on the road has been steadily increasing in recent years.
E. Large sedans are often driven by older drivers with slower reflexes.

How to eliminate between A, B , C
Sudhanshu
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by mainhoon » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:40 pm
So what is the Official Answer for this question? Someone please?
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by FightWithGMAT » Sun Aug 08, 2010 9:19 pm
selfmade wrote:Here is my explaination. Please let me know if that sounds logical.

The question asks us to best explain the data described above - Kind of an inference question.

We have 2 facts

1. Large sedan cars constitutes large percent of cars on road and are more in the impacted cars in rear-end collisions.

2. Sports cars constitute little less percent of cars on road and are also less number in the impacted cars in rear-end collisions

Since this question is asking about inference, we should find the option that always holds true based on the information given in passage (only).

D and E can easily eliminated as out of scope.

C can be eliminated as well, because passage doesn't tell us anything about the breaks of sports car.

B talks about the drivers - out of scope again.

Lets look at A - The passage tells us that

1. sedans are big cars --- > We can infer that long cars have their breaking distance longer
2. sedans are the impacted cars in rear-end collisions ( But the passage does not mention specifically that sedans are always hit by some other car from back or sedans hit some car at the back ... only information we know is in most of the cases, sedans are the once, who get impacted. )
---- > we can infer that, since sedans are big cars and have the longer breaking distance , chances are that they will be unable to stop in time to avoid hitting an onstacle.

So answer is A.
This is not must be true question.

This is a paradox question. We have explain the given puzzle given the question.

The ans should be B.
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by ssp » Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:30 pm
I agree with "FightwithGMAT". The first thing to recognize is that this is a "Paradox" or "Explain the Discrepancy" type question. The approach to these types of questions vary slighty from "Must be True". In explaining this discrepancy or paradox, you can bring in "new" information. Therefore, your answer choice does not have to have an associated "proof" statement in the stimulus. With that said, in my opinion, the answer choice is B.

The first thing to ask yourself is "Why are large sedans involved in 25% of all rear-end collisions?" Naturally you would think sports cars should be involved in a greater percentage of rear-end collisions. The stereotype is that people who drive sports cars drive faster and are more reckless. Well then, why are the precentages for rear end collisions for sports cars not higher than large sedans?

A -- The first answer choices discusses large sedans and why they would be more likely to be involved in front-end collisions. In the stimulus, we are discussing large sedans and their involvement in rear-end collisions.
B -- Answers my question. Well, large sedans are more likely to be involved in rear-end collisions because... drivers of large sedans drive slower (than sport cars) which increases the chances of rear-end collisions.
C -- This answer choice doesn't explain the discrepancy regarding large sedans. It explains why the percentage of sports cars involved in rear-end collisions are normal.
D -- This is a kind of tricky answer choice hoping to prey on the pieces of information you have picked up from the "percentages and numbers" wrong answers. The increase in the number of large sedans still does not explain why large sedans are involved in a greater percentage of rear-end collisions than sports cars.
E -- This would make sense potentially if the stimulus were discussing front end collisions.

Hope this helps...
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by seshadrivyas » Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:45 pm
I thought of B as the only appropriate choice. It states that since older drivers are driving sedans, their slow driving speeds cause other cars to follow closely. This accounts for the high number of rear end collisions.

adi_800, please post the correct answer..!!

Vyas.
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by selfmade » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:34 am
what is the correct answer for this ?
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by adi_800 » Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:48 am
OA is B..
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by debmalya_dutta » Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:29 pm
Guys..need some help here... I think I got too bothered by the semantics

So the stimulus says - "they are the impacted cars in 25 percent of all rear-end collisions" ..So , it just talks about the "impacted car " which could be the front car or the car hitting from behind ....

firstly , do you agree with this ...

If no , then your thoughts

Else, I think A is also a strong candidate... I went for A though :) . But I have my contentions about the use of right language in the stimulus ...
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by reply2spg » Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:36 pm
As I have mentioned above, A is out because passage talks about rear end collision while A talks about front end collision. Other than A and B, I don't find anything in the scope.
debmalya_dutta wrote:Guys..need some help here... I think I got too bothered by the semantics

So the stimulus says - "they are the impacted cars in 25 percent of all rear-end collisions" ..So , it just talks about the "impacted car " which could be the front car or the car hitting from behind ....

firstly , do you agree with this ...

If no , then your thoughts

Else, I think A is also a strong candidate... I went for A though :) . But I have my contentions about the use of right language in the stimulus ...
Sudhanshu
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by debmalya_dutta » Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:39 pm
Agree sudhanshu.. Yes it talks about rear end collisions which is fine... But it doesnt state whether the sedans hit other cars from behind or whether other cards hit the sedans from behind.. To me both rear end collisions .. My car rear ended some car vs some car "rear ended" my car...
@Deb
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by ssp » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:01 pm
Although large sedans make up only 17 percent of the cars on the road, they [large sedans] are the impacted cars in 25 percent of all rear-end collisions.

Let's use an example: Car A rear-ends Car B. Which is car is the impacted car?

Car B is the impacted car. Car B is receiving the impact from Car A.

Let's go back to the stimulus. Large sedans are the impacted cars. Therefore, large sedans are being rear-ended or hit by another car. By this definition, large sedans cannot be the cars hitting other cars or involved in a "front-end" collision. They are the impacted cars being hit by another car.
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