With the increase of traffic in modern times, the
danger of accidents has also increased. To obviate
this danger, various forms of road signs have been
erected for the guidance of motorists. One such sign
reads: “Lane driving is safe driving.” Keeping to
one’s lane is an effective safeguard against
accidents, averting the danger of colliding with
other motor-cars, and ensuring that one’s journey
does not end in disaster.
An article in a British motoring magazine by an
expert on driving gives some indispensable rules of
thumb for drivers. If one is speeding down a main
road, for example, and suddenly a ball appears
from a side road, one must realize that there is
probably a child not far behind it. If one sees the
ball, but fails to see the child, one cannot count
oneself a good driver. The really good driver stops,
not on account of the ball, but on account of the
child that he sees with his mind’s eye running
behind the ball. It is the quickness of his
imagination which saves the child from being run
over.
The principles we are required to keep in mind
while driving are the same as those we should keep
in mind on our journey through life. If one wishes,
one can learn from the “highway code” the
principle that one should follow in the vaster arena
of life.
Always confine your activities to your own sphere;
if you infringe on the sphere of others, you are sure
to clash with them: your progress will come to an
abrupt halt. When certain signs appear on the
horizon of society, try to make out what these signs
imply. Do not just go by outward signs; try to reach
the meaning behind them. If one just goes by what
one sees and fails to see what lurks in the
background, one will not advance in one’s journey
through life. Others, more farseeing than oneself,
will forge ahead, while one falls victim to dangers
that could have been avoided, if one had read the
signs properly (116:4).
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
