Sir: The recent accident on the Quetta-Karachi highway that killed 38 innocent people is a signature Pakistani tragedy. It highlights the insane and reckless driving common in Pakistan that is a source of constant anger for people who actually know how to drive cars and not just step on an accelerator. Whether in Gadani, Quetta, Rawalpindi, or Lahore, drivers pay no attention to road safety or rules, passenger buses and trucks regularly fall into chasms killing dozens of people, and no one is any the wiser because of it. This state of affairs is not limited to bus and van drivers, though they are the worst culprits and assume they have the right to stop and go anywhere on the road; it is also endemic amongst our nouveau riche, who have recently acquired cars, English and the other elements of sophistication they so desperately crave. Half of them make their money from smuggling, as the bus driver smuggling diesel was doing. His actions and disregard for the law led to 38 people being burnt alive. What kind of country allows this sort of contempt for the law? The kind that negotiates with banned terrorists, I’m afraid. ZULFIQAR ANWAR Islamabad