Saudi women no longer need men to drive them nuts

Saudi women celebrated as they sat behind the wheel for the first time in decades today as the kingdom overturned the world's only ban on female motorists, a historic reform expected to usher in a new era of social mobility.

Women in Riyadh and other cities began zipping around streets bathed in amber light soon after the ban was lifted at midnight, with some blasting music from behind the wheel.

"I feel free like a bird," said talk-show host and writer Samar Almogren as she cruised across the capital. Television presenter Sabika al-Dosari called it "a historic moment for every Saudi woman" before driving a sedan across the border to the kingdom of Bahrain.

The lifting of the ban, long a glaring symbol of repression, is expected to be transformative for many women, freeing them from dependence on private chauffeurs or male relatives.

Many Saudi women ebulliently declared plans online to drive for coffee or ice cream, a mundane experience elsewhere in the world but a dazzling novelty in the desert kingdom.

"I'm happy and relieved that... girls in Saudi will live a bit freer than their mothers." But many women are keeping away, testing reactions in a society torn between tradition and social change -- and bracing for a possible backlash from hardliners who have long preached that allowing female motorists would promote promiscuity and sin.

A handful of female driving schools have cropped up in several cities, training women to drive cars as well as Harley Davidson motorbikes -- scenes unimaginable even a year ago.

But many women fear they are still vulnerable to sexist attitudes in a nation where male "guardians" -- their fathers, husbands or other relatives -- can exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on their behalf.

"To all men I say, be gentle towards women" drivers, popular Saudi singer Mohammed Abdu said in an online video.

Prince Mohammed, appointed heir to the most powerful throne in the Middle East a year ago this month, has also lifted a ban on cinemas and mixed-gender concerts, following his public vow to return the austere kingdom to moderate Islam.

However, much of the initial optimism over his reforms appears to have been dented by a major crackdown on women driving activists.

But on Sunday, it was sheer euphoria mixed with disbelief as women across the kingdom flooded social media with videos of their maiden car rides, with a heavy presence of policemen, some of whom distributed flowers to the firsttime drivers.