On June 24, all Saudi women will finally be allowed to get behind the wheel and learn to drive wherever they want.
According to Reuters, the state oil for Aramco will offer about 200 women the chance to learn how to drive. The company is offering to teach their employees and their families at its driving school in Dhahran to show their support for the social revolution. Amira Abdulgader is just one of the women participating.
“Sitting behind the wheel [means] that you are the one controlling the trip,” she said. “I would like to control every single detail of my trip. I will be the one to decide when to go, what to do, and when I will come back.”
Women are about five percent of the company’s 66,000 staff which means that 3,000 more women could eventually participate in the driving classes. Last year, King Salman ended the world’s only ban to prevent women from driving. It had been in place for decades by Saudi Arabia’s conservative establishment.
According to BBC, the rules used to be so harsh regarding women and getting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle. Women had to have a male member or a private driver take them from one place to another. If they were caught behind the wheel, they could face an arrest and a fine.
On June 24, Abdulgader plans to celebrate the new freedom and wants to share it with one specific person.
“On June 24, I would like to go to my mother’s house and take her for a ride. This is my first plan actually, and I would like really to enjoy it with my mother. Just me and my mother, without anyone else.”
During the classes, women will not only be taught how to drive, they will also learn how to check oil levels, change a tire, and why it’s so important to wear a seatbelt.
Americans of both genders spend an average of 87 minutes a day in their cars. Soon, Saudi people, both men and women, will have the same experience.