Driving change: Saudi end ban on women behind wheel

SAUDI Arabia, until now the only country that did not permit female motorists, allowed women to get behind the wheel for the first time in decades last Sunday. Here are some key facts about the historic move, seen as the most striking in a series of reforms as the kingdom prepares for a post-oil era. government pre-emptively addressed concerns of sexual harassment – with a prison term of up to five years and a maximum penalty of 300,000 riyals (RM331,440). – AFP Relaxnews

For the record, Saudi law has never explicitly banned women from driving. It’s just that women were not eligible for licences. If they did try to drive, police would often detain them until a male relative came to sign a pledge that she would not drive again. Anyway, this is certainly good news. At Gear Up!, we always love to see (more) women being mobile and also becoming race drivers. Last Sunday, Saudi Arabian Aseel Al Hamad (pix) made a further breakthrough for her female compatriots by driving a Formula One car ahead of the French Grand Prix. She is the first female member of the Saudi Arabian Motorsport Federation and on the Women in Motorsport Commission (WMC) set up by Formula One’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Hamad drove a 2012 Renault F1 car as part of a parade of the French manufacturer’s vehicles to mark the return of the race in France. “I believe today is not just celebrating the new era of women starting to drive, it’s also the birth of women in motor sport in Saudi Arabia,” she was quoted as saying. “The most important thing I am looking forward to is to start seeing the next generation, young girls, trying [motorsport]. I want to watch them training and taking the sport very seriously as a career. This is going to be really my biggest achievement.”