The women raring to go when Saudi ban is lifted
Sheer determination: that is what friends Kelly Downing and Laura Alho believe got them the first two driving licences issued to western women by Saudi Arabia.
The pair had been keen to get their licences as soon as possible after Saudi authorities announced the ban on female drivers was to be lifted. They didn’t quite expect to become the first Westerners to receive them.
“It still feels very surreal. It’s very exciting – I have been waiting for this thing for ever,” Ms Alho told The National.
The positive effect on Saudi women becoming drivers has been widely acknowledged – but it is also going to influence their foreign compatriots, those who may already have been drivers in their home countries.
Ms Alho is in her 11th year of living in the kingdom. She arrived as a single Finnish woman with a nursing job. Now she is married with two children, running a Saudi-focused travel blog full time.
Ms Downing moved from the suburbs of Washington DC to Riyadh in late 2012, after her Saudi husband finished his MBA. She met Ms Alho through mutual friends months later and the pair have been excitedly watching the succession of reforms in the country ever since.
Driving licences were issued to 10 Saudi women on Monday last week, just weeks before Saudi Arabia’s ban on female drivers is to be lifted on June 24. The Ministry of Information said another 2,000 licensed female drivers would join their ranks this week.
“It’s been a rapid rise of changes recently – the ways things are currently, I’m very, very happy to be here,” Ms Downing said.
“Having the ability to choose is wonderful, I don’t miss going to movies or sports stadiums, but driving has been a big thing for me.”
The friends made sure they were among the first to register when the system for booking appointments opened on May 21. They opened their Absher accounts on the Ministry of Interior website, submitted their documents – including a medical report and translations of their foreign licences – and managed to book spots on the first day expats with foreign licences could be converted.
“As soon as I saw that the system was up for appointments, I woke my husband before prayer and said I had to do it,” Ms Downing said.
“He knew from the beginning that I wanted to be the first, so he helped me navigate the websites and get everything in order and everything submitted correctly.”
But a couple of days later their appointments were cancelled because the system was not ready. Last Tuesday, they both received messages at night saying their appointments had been scheduled for the next morning.
Ms Downing was scheduled for 11am, when the traffic department opened, and Ms Ahlo was in the next slot, at 11.30am.
After having their thumbprints taken and licence information entered into the system came a short driving test around a course in the car park. It lasted a couple of minutes, Ms Ahlo said. She had to demonstrate a three-point turn and parallel park as the driving instructor watched from outside, following the car along the course.
“Laura arrived moments after I was handed my licence and it was incredible to hug her and share my happiness in that moment,” Ms Downing said.
“It was so straightforward, it was amazing … but everyone was in a great mood. I keep saying it’s the best DMV experience I’ve ever had.”
“The guy gave me the thumbs up – but when I went back inside he said to my friend ‘you passed’ and to me, ‘you didn’t pass’,” Ms Alho said, laughing. “And I said are you serious? He said ‘no, of course you passed’.”
When they collected their new licences moments later, they asked whether they had indeed managed to be the first expatriates to get their licences. They were told they had, being the first American and first European respectively.
“It felt incredible, I was just so happy. It means so much for my life here. I already have a say in my life because my husband gives me a say – but now I’m independent and I can leave the house when I like,” Ms Downing said. Ms Alho agreed.
“I think it’s a really great time to be here, it’s such a historic moment and we’ve been waiting for so long. It’s going to make such a huge difference in everyday life – you can do spur-of-the-moment things, like going to restaurants or to the park.”
And, come June 24, the duo have agreed that whether it be a road trip or simply taking in the sights of Riyadh, they’ll be on the road, together.
Driving licences were issued to 10 Saudi women last week, just weeks before ban on female drivers is lifted