I do not exaggerate when I say that the issue of Saudi women driving is widely discussed. It is a sensitive matter because it involves women. We continue to hear foreign voices discussing this issue, although it does not concern them. I worked abroad for 12 years. I remember when my wife and I went to the United States in 1999; I hired a female driving instructor to teach her how to drive. I wanted her to be independent and be able to easily get around without needing my help. In the first lesson, she ran through a red light even though her instructor was sitting next to her. It was not a good start. However, my wife learned how to drive in three weeks and was given a driving license. She drove for eight years and never once was she involved in a road accident. When we returned to the Kingdom for good, my wife was invited to a dinner party organized by her colleagues whom she had met in the United States. I asked her to ask her colleagues this question: If Saudi women were allowed to drive in the Kingdom, which of those at the dinner party would choose to drive? Although all of them had lived in the United States and had driven there, none of them showed any interest in driving in the Kingdom. Their reasons varied and included lack of safety, far too much traffic, different driving laws and social issues. I perfectly understand why some local voices call for permitting Saudi women to drive and why these voices keep talking about the millions of riyals expatriate drivers transfer abroad every year and that if Saudi women were to drive then our economy would benefit. They also claim that road accidents would decrease. We also hear voices calling for allowing women to be able to help their husbands in daily household chores, such as dropping their kids off at school. In my opinion, these voices look at the empty sides of half filled cups and overlook the other half. I am not going to discuss this issue from the Shariah point of view. The late Sheikh Abdulaziz Bin Baz said women are not permitted to drive because they would uncover their faces and parts of their arms and would intermingle with men. Sheikh Salih Al-Fawzan said women are not permitted to drive because they would be intermingling with men, especially if a woman's car broke down or she was involved in an accident. Sheikh Al-Fawzan also said that allowing women to drive would mean women would be able to leave their homes and their guardians and would not be able to monitor them. However, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Mutlaq said that there is no Shariah justification in banning women from driving. Sheikh Ayedh Al-Qarni said there are no Shariah texts that state that it is prohibited for women to drive. Clearly, the above scholars differ on the issue and such different opinions incite public opinion and make the general public treat this issue with a lot of sensitivity. I believe the best thing is for the General Commission of Ifta, Dawah and Guidance to issue a decisive fatwa that everyone should respect. I am not going to discuss this issue from social and cultural perspectives. Our social and cultural norms will not allow women to drive. There are segments of our society that differ on the way they accept something new. Some segments find it okay for women to drive while others are in opposition. After all, it is only a matter of time before a segment of society accepts and embraces a new practice. When the late King Saud issued a royal decree in 1960 to open girls' schools, some segments of society were against this. Today, a large number of Saudi women have made great achievements. In my opinion, women driving is a public policy issue which all segments of society can discuss. Some members of our society and even some people abroad support women driving while others are against it. I am not for or against women driving. I just want to discuss whether we are ready to see women drive in our conservative society. We need to ask ourselves whether we have what it takes to allow women to drive. Can women adapt themselves to our traffic rules, written and unwritten? Do we have strict laws that protect women on the road? Road infrastructure is an important issue because it involves the security of citizens and non-citizens. Our highways and roads have not seen major development; they are just rehabilitated from time to time. In other words, they do not meet safety standards and do not have enough stoplights and road signs. They are also in bad condition due to the lack of maintenance. This is perhaps because of our hot and dusty weather. We cannot compare this infrastructure with that of the United States, Canada, Japan or Germany. It is difficult for women to drive on our roads. If we do not make these roads safe for women and everyone for that matter, then there is no point in discussing women driving. We have road regulations but they are not being enforced the way they should be. That is why the majority of drivers are reckless and run through red lights, especially at intersections where no surveillance cameras have been installed. Most people drive like crazy on roads and highways. One can change lanes without signaling and get away with it. Some people drive in the opposite direction and get away with it. Some double-park and get away with it. It should be noted that the World Bank, UNICEF and the Central Department of Statistics and Information conducted a study which revealed that the ratio of men to women in the Kingdom is 50.6 to 49.4 percent. This means that a household that owns one or two cars would end up owning more cars if women were allowed to drive. We would have more cars on our roads, which, due to their poor infrastructure, would not be able to absorb the increase in vehicles. Moreover, roads would get more crowded. How would women be able to drive on these roads? If women were allowed to drive on our roads, we would need to have strict laws to protect their security and safety. Without such laws, women would be harassed by reckless and irresponsible drivers. Because we do not have such laws, women who go walking on the street to lose weight continue to be harassed by young men. Let us ask ourselves how we are going to respect women's privacy when they drive if we are unable to respect them when they are simply walking on sidewalks? This is especially important given that a woman's car might break down in a remote area? Unless we have the right infrastructure and proper laws in place for women, we should not consider allowing women to drive.
