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Jeddah, 8 September 2004 (Arab News) — The Traffic Department has issued a law forbidding the issue of international driving licenses to all women in the Kingdom, whether Saudis or expatriates, Al-Watan newspaper reported.
In the past, Saudi women, who are not allowed to drive in the Kingdom, obtained driving licenses from other countries and using those licenses were issued international driving licenses through travel agents in Saudi Arabia.
A Jeddah travel agent told Arab News that issuing international driving licenses to women is a violation of Saudi law, and that those who do so — he said there are those who still do — are violating the law. He said there is nothing in writing forbidding the issuing of drivers’ licenses. In other words, nothing official from the government has come to them but that it is understood among travel agencies that it is illegal to issue women with international drivers’ licenses.
An agent at Al-Tayar Travel Agency said that his agency would not issue the licenses since to do so would break Saudi law. But what do women think?
Samira Al-Ghamdi, a psychologist, said: “I think such a decision needs to be studied. There are Saudi women who live or study abroad and have driving licenses in those countries. It does not make sense that when they come to renew their licenses here, they are not allowed to do so. I have a relative who got a license in Kuwait and she drives there. Such decisions are haphazard and they are not going to stop Saudi women from driving abroad.”
Heba Shaikh sarcastically said: “This is only needlessly complicating women’s lives. Instead of allowing us to drive here, now we are not allowed to drive abroad either. For me this means that I must go to any other country, take the driving test there and get a license which I can then use wherever I want. Except my home country of course. Honestly there are more important issues in our lives that require time and effort.”
Independent women who travel on their own prefer the option of driving their own cars and this decision is going to make things difficult for them. A Saudi woman professor at King Saud University said: “I’ve been driving outside the Kingdom for at least 17 years. And as a mother who usually travels on my own, I do my own driving when I’m outside the country. I’ve renewed my driving license repeatedly. Now this is an unnecessary inconvenience. Must I now apply for a local driver’s license in whatever country I travel to?”
The ban affects also non-Saudis who are not banned from driving in their own countries. Sawsan Al-Tabi, a Palestinian who works in a public relations company, normally renews her international driving license before traveling abroad in the summer but this year, she was unable to do so. “This year the travel agency refused to renew my international license even though my first license was issued in another country and despite the fact that I’m not Saudi. I don’t understand. Not only are Saudi laws being forcefully and illogically applied to non-Saudis, but they’re stepping over the borders to apply them.”
On the other hand, some Saudi men think differently. Abu Sara, a businessman who is the father of three daughters and three sons, said: “I don’t see the harm in the law. I mean it’s not like women, Saudi or non-Saudi, are driving here. Come to think of it, stricter laws about issuing driving licenses should be implemented for men as well. The state of driving is bad as it is. Why would any woman be upset by this new law?”
For some women this new law is just one more obstacle. As Nouf Ahmad said: “Honestly it’s like even if we leave the country, we don’t really leave, do we?”
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