NGM Blog Central - Driving Concerns - National Geographic Magazine

If luxury-brand autos and SUVs—the trappings of conspicuous consumption and 46-cents-a-gallon gas—are the most visible things on Saudi Arabia’s highways, a close second may be non-Saudi chauffeurs. Women are not permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia, so opportunities abound for immigrants willing to take mothers shopping and daughters to school.

Neither Saudi legislation nor Muslim tradition actually forbids women to drive. Deep in the kingdom’s deserts, away from police, women often get behind the wheel. Yet female drivers in urban areas are routinely arrested. In 1991 protests against the ban met with swift government action. Protesters’ passports were confiscated, and few dared speak up after that. Recently, though, women’s groups have petitioned Saudi’s King Abdullah to consider changing the policy. Advocates point out that mobilizing half the country’s population would offer great economic benefi ts. Permission to drive would be a triumphant step for Saudi women. It might also be a brave one; according to one report, 81 percent of deaths in Saudi Ministry of Health hospitals are related to car accidents.

—Cord Jefferson

Posted by National Geographic Staff | Comments (0)
Filed Under: Culture, Wide Angle

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