Question

A safety report indicates that, on average, traffic fatalities decline by about 7 percent in those areas in which strict laws requiring drivers and passengers to wear seat belts have been passed. In a certain city seat belt laws have been in effect for two years, but the city's public safety records show that the number of traffic deaths per year has remained the same.

Which one of the following, if true, does NOT help resolve the apparent discrepancy between the safety report and the city public safety records?

(A) Two years ago speed limits in the city were increased by as much as 15 kph (9 mph).
(B) The city now includes pedestrian fatalities in its yearly total of traffic deaths, whereas two years ago it did not.
(C) In the time since the seat belt laws were passed, the city has experienced a higher than average increase in automobile traffic.
(D) Because the city's seat belt laws have been so rarely enforced, few drivers in the city have complied with them,
(E) In the last two years, most of the people killed in car accidents in the city were not wearing seat belts.

Answer 1

Option (D) does not help resolve the discrepancy between the safety report and the city public safety records.

Step-by-step explanation:

The option that does not help resolve the apparent discrepancy between the safety report and the city public safety records is (D) Because the city's seat belt laws have been so rarely enforced, few drivers in the city have complied with them.

This option does not help resolve the discrepancy because it suggests that the seat belt laws have not been effectively enforced, which could be the reason why the number of traffic deaths per year has remained the same despite the existence of the laws.

By contrast, options (A), (B), (C), and (E) all present possible explanations for the discrepancy between the safety report and the city public safety records.