Safety consultant: Judged by the number

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Safety consultant: Judged by the number of injuries per licensed vehicle, minivans are the safest vehicles on the road. However, in carefully designed crash tests, minivans show no greater ability to protect their occupants than other vehicles of similar size do. Thus, the reason minivans have such a good safety record is probably not that they are inherently safer than other vehicles, but rather that they are driven primarily by low-risk drivers.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the safety consultant's argument?


(A) When choosing what kind of vehicle to drive, low-risk drivers often select a kind that they know to perform particularly well in crash tests.

(B) Judged by the number of accidents per licensed vehicle, minivans are no safer than most other kinds of vehicles are.

(C) Minivans tend to carry more passengers at any given time than do most other vehicles.

(D) In general, the larger a vehicle is, the greater its ability to protect its occupants.

(E) Minivans generally have worse braking and emergency handling capabilities than other vehicles of similar size.

Hi experts, can some explain to me why The best Option makes it best?

OA E

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by VJesus12 » Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:41 am
I think option C is incorrect.

But I don't know how to discard the rest of the options. Experts, may you help us here?

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by ErikaPrepScholar » Thu Jan 04, 2018 7:19 am
We want to strengthen the safety consultant's argument. This argument is "Minivans are not safer cars, they just have safer drivers." We can strengthen this argument by adding support to either "Minivans are not safer cars" OR "Minivans have safer drivers".

A. Since minivans don't perform better in crash tests, this means that low-risk (safer) drivers wouldn't pick them. This WEAKENS "Minivans have safer drivers". Eliminate.
B. If there are just as many accidents per vehicle in minivans as in other cars, this means that the drivers aren't much safer. This WEAKENS "Minivans have safer drivers". This also means that the lower injury rate for minivans probably DOES indicate that the car is safer - they're making it through just as many accidents and coming out with less injuries. This WEAKENS "Minivans are not safer cars". Eliminate.
C. If we consider that in minivans there are more passengers per vehicle but still less injuries per vehicle, this tells us that people in minivans are somehow even safer than we thought based on the passage. However, we still don't know why. This doesn't address either "minivans are not safer cars" or "minivans have safer drivers". Eliminate.
D. Minivans are bigger than most cars, so based on this answer choice, they are inherently safer. This WEAKENS "Minivans are not safer cars". Eliminate.
E. If minivans don't brake or handle as well as similar cars, this means that minivans are LESS safe cars. This STRENGTHENS "Minivans are not safer cars". Correct.
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by BTGmoderatorDC » Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:41 pm
ErikaPrepScholar wrote:We want to strengthen the safety consultant's argument. This argument is "Minivans are not safer cars, they just have safer drivers." We can strengthen this argument by adding support to either "Minivans are not safer cars" OR "Minivans have safer drivers".

A. Since minivans don't perform better in crash tests, this means that low-risk (safer) drivers wouldn't pick them. This WEAKENS "Minivans have safer drivers". Eliminate.
B. If there are just as many accidents per vehicle in minivans as in other cars, this means that the drivers aren't much safer. This WEAKENS "Minivans have safer drivers". This also means that the lower injury rate for minivans probably DOES indicate that the car is safer - they're making it through just as many accidents and coming out with less injuries. This WEAKENS "Minivans are not safer cars". Eliminate.
C. If we consider that in minivans there are more passengers per vehicle but still less injuries per vehicle, this tells us that people in minivans are somehow even safer than we thought based on the passage. However, we still don't know why. This doesn't address either "minivans are not safer cars" or "minivans have safer drivers". Eliminate.
D. Minivans are bigger than most cars, so based on this answer choice, they are inherently safer. This WEAKENS "Minivans are not safer cars". Eliminate.
E. If minivans don't brake or handle as well as similar cars, this means that minivans are LESS safe cars. This STRENGTHENS "Minivans are not safer cars". Correct.
Thanks a lot!