Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 117
— Part I 116 laying pipelines or cables etc. leave them in a perilous state for traffic without erecting warning posts or illuminated signs for the night travellers. Unfortunately many accidents happen on the roads and mishaps occur as a result of ignoring this warning system. For example, once, while driving with dipped headlights in Islamabad, I suspected something unusual in the middle of the road and applied the brakes with a sudden sense of alarm. I discovered that a few yards ahead a huge pit had been dug across the road, yet there was no warning sign posted and no adequate lighting either. This was despite the fact that the earth from around the pit had been removed which itself could have worked as a substitute signal. Thus it was only Allah’s Grace that saved us. I was travelling with my family and had I not abruptly applied the brakes, we would certainly have had a fatal accident. The next day I heard the news that a German tourist while driving his Mercedes had fallen into the same pit, hopefully with no fatal consequences. Another incident happened when I was travelling on the Shaikhupura-Gujranwala road in Pakistan. In this instance the road had been dug up but the soil and concrete had not been removed from the site. I was travelling in the dark when I glimpsed the heap on the road and managed to apply my brakes on time, thus stopping my car some feet away from the hazardous spot. Here again there was no sign to warn the drivers of the dangers ahead. When we disembarked from the