With a little over a week before women across Saudi Arabia get behind the wheel and drive themselves for the first time in decades, the Kingdom is getting ready to make the big day – and the days after that – unfold as smoothly as possible. After opening a number of driving schools and modifying laws to improve the mobility and safety of women, the Kingdom now has its very first Saudi women driving examiners.
Chosen by the General Department of Traffic, these women went through a comprehensive field test in the traffic department and were then given their licenses. The department recently published a video on Twitter of three examiners who talked about their job and how that they were chosen for this position as the best trainers in the Saudi driving learning centers.
In the online videos, Sarah al-Khamis, explained that her duties as an examiner include checking safety checks such as how drivers adjust the car mirrors and fasten their seatbelt. Nouf al-Nami, another examiner who featured in the video, also pointed out that they are required to check how trainees change lanes and abide by traffic laws, adding that experience of being a driver examiner was, for her, “really interesting and amazing.”
Last year, Saudi Arabia stunned the world when it announced that it was ending its decades-long ban on women driving. This month, an increasing number of Saudi women have been issued their driving licenses, proudly sharing their photos online, and a Finnish citizen became the first European woman to obtain a Saudi driving license. Laura Al-Alho proudly shared photos of the historic event on her Twitter account and the travel blog she runs, which is also Saudi's first travel blog.
