Saudi women start driving, handed flowers by police on streets

The first day of women drivers hitting the road in Saudi Arabia went off without a hitch, as police officers themselves were spotted handing out flowers to passing female motorists.

Women will no longer have to depend on husbands or fathers to go anywhere or spend money to keep a full-time driver. More than 120,000 applications for a driving licence have been handed in so far, according the Ministry of Interior and Traffic Directorate, and hundreds are already driving since yesterday.

Apparently some Saudi women have even turned to becoming Uber and Careem drivers already, while some carmakers are putting women behind the wheel of cars on the racetrack.

News of a major accident involving a speeding sedan was initially attributed a woman driver by social media, but those rumours were unfounded, as the police released information that it was a male driver.

While it is a momentous occasion for women in KSA in general, it remains to be seen if this translates into an increase in vehicle sales which carmakers are desperately hoping for.