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Red Cars

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by abhirup1711 » Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:54 pm
179. Premiums for automobile accident insurance are often higher for red cars than for cars of other colors. To justify these higher charges, insurance companies claim that, overall, a greater percentage of red cars are involved in accidents than are cars of any other color. If this claim is true, then lives could undoubtedly be saved by banning red cars from the roads altogether.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument
(A) Accepts without question that insurance companies have the right to charge higher premiums for higher-risk clients
(B) Fails to consider whether red cars cost the same to repair as cars of other colors
(C) ignores the possibility that drivers who drive recklessly have a preference for red cars
(D) Does not specify precisely what percentage of red cars are involved in accidents
(E) Makes an unsupported assumption that every automobile accident results in some loss of life

Please explain
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:48 am
abhirup1711 wrote:179. Premiums for automobile accident insurance are often higher for red cars than for cars of other colors. To justify these higher charges, insurance companies claim that, overall, a greater percentage of red cars are involved in accidents than are cars of any other color. If this claim is true, then lives could undoubtedly be saved by banning red cars from the roads altogether.

The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument
(A) Accepts without question that insurance companies have the right to charge higher premiums for higher-risk clients
(B) Fails to consider whether red cars cost the same to repair as cars of other colors
(C) ignores the possibility that drivers who drive recklessly have a preference for red cars
(D) Does not specify precisely what percentage of red cars are involved in accidents
(E) Makes an unsupported assumption that every automobile accident results in some loss of life

Please explain
This argument links RED CARS to ACCIDENTS.
The assumption is that the COLOR of the car somehow is to blame for the high number of accidents.
What about the DRIVERS of these cars?

C: The argument ignores the possibility that drivers who drive recklessly have a preference for red cars.
This answer choice points out a flaw in the reasoning: the high number of accidents is likely due not to the red cars themselves but to the RECKLESS DRIVERS of these cars.
Since banning the cars is not the same as banning the drivers, the conclusion that lives would be saved by the banning of red cars is invalidated.

The correct answer is C.

Some test-takers will be tempted by E:
Makes an unsupported assumption that every automobile accident results in some loss of life.
Beware EXTREME language.
While the argument does link the banning of red cars to the saving of lives, it does not assume that EVERY accident -- WITHOUT EXCEPTION -- results in some loss of life.
Eliminate E.
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