Saudi minister says adding women drivers will reduce car crashes

Saudi women speak on cellphones in Riyadh yesterday, when a ban on women driving was lifted. Picture: Reuters

Saudi women speak on cellphones in Riyadh yesterday, when a ban on women driving was lifted. Picture: Reuters

Published Sep 28, 2017

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Riyadh - Saudi Arabia's lifting of a much

criticised ban on women drivers will reduce the number of car

crashes in a country with one of the world's worst

traffic-related death rates, its interior minister said on

Thursday. 

King Salman announced the historic change on Tuesday, ending

a conservative tradition which limited women's mobility and was

seen by rights activists as an emblem of their suppression in

the kingdom where Islam originated.

Saudi Arabia was the only remaining country in the world to

bar women from driving, a policy that will officially end in

June 2018 after a ministerial committee reports on measures

needed for implementation.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef, the interior minister

who took over from his uncle in June, said security forces were

ready to apply traffic laws to men and women, though he did not

mention if women would be recruited as traffic police.

"Women driving cars will transform traffic safety into a

pedagogical practice which will reduce human and economic losses

caused by accidents," he was quoted as saying on the ministry's

official Twitter feed. He did not elaborate.

Around 20 Saudis die each day in traffic accidents. Poor

governance has contributed to Saudi Arabia's woeful record in

road safety, analysts say, and the government is aiming to

reduce the number of deaths by a quarter as part of its

ambitious Vision 2030 reform programme.

While Saudi women have generally praised the lifting of the

driving ban, some men expressed concern it would dramatically

increase the number of cars on already crowded Saudi roads.

A middle- to upper-class Saudi family typically has two

vehicles, one driven by the man of the house and a second car in

which a full-time chauffeur transports his wife and children.

The royal decree promises to change lifestyles for many of

the 10 million women over the age of 20, including foreigners,

who live in Saudi Arabia.

It may also help restore auto sales growth in a market

dented by the economic fallout from weak oil prices.

But because of conservative traditions, it may actually take

years rather than months for women to become a major presence on

the roads in some areas.

In a country where gender segregation has been enforced for

decades, the decree means women will have regular contact with

unrelated men, such as fellow drivers and traffic police. 

Reuters

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