Saudi female accident inspectors prepare for women driving

By Sarah Dadouch

 

Saudi women hold their diplomas during the graduation ceremony of Saudi women car-accident inspectors, a few days before women are set to take the wheel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia June 21, 2018. REUTERS/Noemie Olive

 

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's first batch of women car accident inspectors are training to respond to incidents involving female drivers, who will be allowed to drive in the conservative Muslim kingdom starting on Sunday when a decades-old ban ends.

 

Forty women hired by private insurance company Najm attended a celebration on Thursday in the capital Riyadh. All of them wore black abayas, the traditional loose-fitting robes, and most covered their faces with the conservative niqab as they lined up to receive symbolic diplomas.

 

Just days before women are set to hit the road, though, it was unclear when the trainees will be ready to start their new jobs and how they will navigate mixed-gender environments in a country where strict separation rules usually prevent women from interacting with unrelated men.

 

Sweeping social reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, twinned with an economic overhaul aimed at ending dependency on oil exports, are chipping away at traditional norms.

 

Much of the kingdom's overwhelmingly young population supports the reforms, but many Saudis are concerned that changes are happening too fast and fear they could provoke a backlash from religious conservatives once seen as dominant.

 

Social opening has also been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrests over the past month of more than a dozen activists who had previously campaigned for the right to drive.

 

When King Salman decreed an end to the world’s only remaining ban on women drivers last September, he gave the government nine months to prepare for introducing women drivers to the country's roads, which are among the world's deadliest.

 

The Ministry of Interior has been preparing for the day women take the wheel, opening driving schools and setting up locations for women to exchange their foreign licenses. They worked with Najm to prepare the female inspectors.

 

They also plan to open holding cells for female traffic violators, but will hold them in juvenile detention centres in the meantime.

Trainee Tahani al-Ameeri, 35, said she was excited to start working as an inspector in the eastern city of Kohbar.

 

"There is fear at first," she said of women driving, "but little by little the situation will improve, and God willing this will be a good thing for women."

 

The female inspectors will be called to the scene of the accident when one of those involved is insured, not those involving injuries, and when at least one party is a woman, said Maha al-Shneifi, Najm's communication director.

 

They have yet to finish their training, however, and it is unclear how many female inspectors will be hired in coming years. It will depend on demand, said Shneifi.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-23

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

most covered their faces with the conservative niqab as they lined up to receive symbolic diplomas. 

I wonder if their driver's licenses are a photo ID.

They're gonna be busy!!

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Well one saving grace for those ladies i bet they drive better Than Thai drivers

 

Picture in the OP looks like graduation day of a class of ninjas. 

9 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

Picture in the OP looks like graduation day of a class of ninjas. 

Looks like Brick Lane London!

I am concerned of the dangerous practice of driving with a head garment that will definitely 100% restrict the vision of a female driver. Those driving accident inspectors are going to be busy, I’m sure!


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Even Saudi Arabia surrenders to politically correct... 

12 hours ago, DILLIGAD said:

I am concerned of the dangerous practice of driving with a head garment that will definitely 100% restrict the vision of a female driver. Those driving accident inspectors are going to be busy, I’m sure!


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Women drive in the UAE and other Arab countries while covered. I don't know what their proportion of accidents is, but in Saudi they still have to get around having to have a male family member escort them when out of the house to drive alone.

Saudis were terrible drivers when I was there, and the only reason their accident rate wasn't higher was probably because the roads were very good and very wide.

Males are not allowed to have anything to do with an unrelated woman, so it'll be interesting when they break the road rules and stopped by a male cop.

 

A abusive stalking post has and replies to it have been removed.

I spent about 18 months on and off in Riyadh and Jeddah and I can't believe that the women could possibly drive worse than the men. It is carnage out there every day.