History as Saudi women take to wheels

SAUDI women drove to work and ran errands yesterday, relishing the freedom to move about without relying on men after the kingdom lifted the world’s last remaining ban on women driving.

It’s a historic moment for women who have been at the mercy of their husbands, fathers, brothers and drivers to move around. The ban had relegated women to the backseat, restricting when they could meet friends, where they could spend their time and how they could plan out their day.

“It feels beautiful. It was a dream for us so when it happens in reality, I am between belief and disbelief; between a feeling of joy and astonishment,” said Mabkhoutah al-Mari as she pulled up to order a drive-thru coffee on her way to work.

The 27-year-old mother of two is a driving instructor for women and already had a driver’s license from the United States, where she’d spent time in Tennessee studying. But on this morning, she drove freely in her hometown of Riyadh for the first time. As she prepared to set off on the road, her older brother sent her off with a kiss on the forehead and a wave.

For most of her life al-Mari relied on drivers hired by her family, and she and her sisters had to coordinate drop-offs and pick-ups.

“Now, thanks to God, I can plan out my own schedule and my errands and my daughters’ errands,” al-Mari said.

Some women didn’t wait until the morning to drive, jumping in their cars at the stroke of midnight and steering their way through the capital’s still busy streets.

“I’m speechless. I’m so excited it’s actually happening,” said Hessah al-Ajaji, who drove her family’s Lexus down Riyadh’s Tahlia Street after midnight.

Al-Ajaji had a US driver’s license before obtaining a Saudi one and appeared comfortable at the wheel as she pulled up and parked. As for the male drivers on the road, “they were really supportive and cheering and smiling,” she said.

For nearly three decades, outspoken Saudi women and men had called for women to have the right to drive as a symbol of other changes they said were needed in the deeply conservative kingdom.

While there was never explicitly a law against women driving in Saudi Arabia, a ban was enforced by police and licenses were not issued to women. The driving ban had been a stain on the country’s reputation and hindered women’s ability to contribute to the economy.

In 1990, during the first driving campaign by activists, women who drove in Riyadh lost their jobs and were barred from traveling abroad.