Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Saudi Women Want to Drive

Neither Islamic law nor country's constitution forbids female drivers

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 18, 2007 1:13 PM CDT

(Newser) – A group of Saudi women is trying to regain a “stolen right”: driving. The group will deliver a petition to King Abdullah this week demanding the right to get behind the wheel. But prospects for lifting the world's only ban on female drivers are cloudy, the BBC reports, because of concerns about women mixing freely with men.

Nothing in Islamic law or the Saudi constitution prohibits women from driving. The ban only became law in 1990, although it was unofficially in place long before that. King Abdullah—who one Western diplomat described to the Telegraph as "about as liberal as an 80-year-old Saudi gets"—has said he thinks women will someday drive in his kingdom.

A woman gets in a taxi in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. For the first time ever, a group of women in the only country that bans female drivers have formed a committee to lobby for the right to get in the driver's seat. They plan to petition...
A woman gets in a taxi in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. For the first time ever, a group of women in the only country that bans female drivers have formed a committee to lobby for the...   (Associated Press)
Two  women crosses the street in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. For the first time ever, a group of women in the only country that bans female drivers have formed a committee to lobby for the right to get in the driver's seat. They plan to petition King...
Two women crosses the street in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. For the first time ever, a group of women in the only country that bans female drivers have formed a committee to lobby for...   (Associated Press)
Le Caire. (PAR80198)
Le Caire. (PAR80198)   (Magnum Photos)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

More Newser Stories

Saudi Female Driver Won't Be Lashed

Saudi Video Protests Driver Ban

Saudis to Let Women Behind the Wheel

Saudi Woman Faces Lashes for Driving

Saudi Women Get Right to Vote


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne