Key moments in the driving history of Saudi women

Key moments in the driving history of Saudi women
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Updated 25 June 2019
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Key moments in the driving history of Saudi women

Key moments in the driving history of Saudi women
  • A Sept. 26, 2017, royal decree ordered the lifting of a ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia
  • Last April, Saudi racing car driver Reema Juffali made her Formula 4 British Championship debut in UK

Sept. 26, 2017: A royal decree orders the lifting of a ban on women driving in the Kingdom.

Jan. 11, 2018: The first car showroom for women only opens in a Jeddah shopping mall.

June 4,2018: The first driving licenses are issued to 10 Saudi women in the Kingdom, who exchange their foreign licenses for Saudi ones ahead of the historic day.

June 8, 2018: Laura Alho, otherwise known as Blue Abaya, is the first European woman to get a Saudi driver’s license.

June 24, 2018: The first day women are allowed to drive on the Kingdom’s roads. Many female drivers, including Shoura Council member Leena Almaeena, hit the roads after midnight. Traffic police hand out flowers to female motorists in the morning.

June 24, 2018: Aseel Al-Hamad becomes the first Saudi woman to drive an F1 car in a symbolic lap around the French Grand Prix circuit in Le Castellet.

June 27, 2018: Saramma Thomas, a nurse, becomes the first Indian woman to get a Saudi driving license.

April 6-7, 2019: Saudi racing car driver Reema Juffali makers her Formula 4 British Championship debut at Brands Hatch in the UK.