Arg-13
题目：
In an attempt to improve highway safety, Prunty County last year lowered its speed limit from 55 to 45 miles per hour on all county highways. But this effort has failed: the number of accidents has not decreased, and, based on reports by the highway patrol, many drivers are exceeding the speed limit. Prunty County should instead undertake the same kind of road improvement project that Butler County completed five years ago: increasing lane widths, resurfacing rough highways, and improving visibility at dangerous intersections. Today, major Butler County roads still have a 55 mph speed limit, yet there were 25 percent fewer reported accidents in Butler County this past year than there were five years ago.
Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.
范文：
This author argues that a recent reduction in Prunty County's speed limit on its major roads (55 to 45 miles per hour miles per hour) has proven ineffective and that the county should rescind the speed limit change. Instead, urges the author, the city should focus on infrastructure improvement, much like Butler County, wherein drivers experienced a 25% reduction in accidents while enjoying speeds of up to 55 miles per hour. After a review of the assumptions therein, the integrity of the argument comes into question.
Firstly, only recently has the speed limit in Pruntly County been reduced and only for major roads. Perhaps not enough time has passed to determine the change’s effectiveness. Further, no indication of results from a study on the roadways with a speed limit change has been provided. Lacking such a link between the conclusions that Prunty's road safety effort initiative has failed is invalidated.
Secondly, the argument assumes that all other factors affecting highway accident rates have remained unchanged since the county lowered its speed limit. However, the author fails to provide evidence to support this assumption. It is entirely possible that the lower speed limit does in fact serve to reduce the accident rate, while some other factor, such as unseasonably poor weather, reduced law enforcement measures, or even an influx of teenage drivers to the area, has served to increase the accident rate. Without considering and ruling out these and other factors that might have served to increase the accident rate since the speed limit was lowered, the author cannot justifiably conclude that this safety effort has failed.
Thirdly, in the argument, the author implies that the higher speed limit in Butler County has not served to increase the incidence of road accidents in that county. It is entirely possible that the 55-mph speed limit actually serves to increase the accident rate on Butler's highways, but that others factors, such as stricter law enforcement measures or improved driver education, have served to decrease the accident rate to a greater extent. Without considering and ruling out these and other factors which might have served to decrease the accident rate in Butler County, the author cannot confidently recommend that Prunty County emulate Butler County’s approach to the problem.
In conclusion, to strengthen the argument, the author must account for all other factors that might influence the accident rate on roads in both counties. To better assess the impact of the new speed limit on road safety, an audience requires more statistical information about the accident rate on Prunty's major roads, collected over a longer time period.