| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
 Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 8:28 am Post subject: KSA issues first driving licences to women |
 |
|
Effective June 24, Saudi and expat women will be allowed to drive.
Saudi Arabia issues first driving licences to women
Al Jazeera | 5 June 2018
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/saudi-arabia-issues-driving-licenses-women-180604160750686.html
Saudi Arabia started issuing its first driving licences to women weeks before the kingdom lifts a ban on female drivers. The general traffic directorate on Monday began replacing internationally recognised driving licences held by women with Saudi ones across the country, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Ten Saudi women were issued national licences after they swapped their foreign ones at the General Department of Traffic in multiple cities, the government said. "The exchange process is taking place on various spots around the kingdom to lay the ground for women sitting behind the wheels on the roads - a turning point set to be actualised on June 24," SPA said.
About 2,000 licences are expected to be issued for women next week, according to a statement by the ministry of information.
(End of excerpt) |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
sicklyman
Joined: 02 Feb 2013
Posts: 930
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 5:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Well that’s interesting because every Saudi woman I work with plus all the women they know had their appointments to do this canceled without explanation a few weeks ago. That of course sparked rumors that this wasn’t going to happen at all. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
Another unpleasant detail... it made them give up their foreign driving licenses in order to get a local license?
They may come to regret that...
We never had to give up our US driving license to get a local Gulf driving license.
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
| veiledsentiments wrote: |
| We never had to give up our US driving license to get a local Gulf driving license. |
Not so odd actually. As US citizens are aware (or should be aware), once you abandon KSA residency (or of any other foreign country whose driver’s license (DL) you may possess) to return permanently to the US, you must turn in your foreign license to get a US license.
Technically (in the USA), you cannot have both a US DL and a foreign DL.
Not only that…….if you CHANGE your state of residency, you must turn in your old state’s DL before you can obtain your new state’s DL
You cannot be in possession of a valid DL of two different US states.
Violations of these laws are widespread, needless to say, (mainly because these laws have not kept pace with the realities of contemporary international living), but that’s currently the law.
(Have you ever tried to rent a car in the USA with a KSA DL (while at the same time showing your US passport for ID?) Good luck.
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I always had a current US driver's license. I was never asked if I had any other country's when I renewed these. I suspect that it never occurred for them to ask and it never occurred for me to mention them. And though they now have expired, I have in my drawer, driving licenses from Oman, Kuwait, and the UAE. For over 20 years, I had valid driving licenses from at least two countries at all times. There was nothing improper or illegal about such.
Between states in the US, right... as they are used for ID and proof of residency.
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| veiledsentiments wrote: |
| It made them give up their foreign driving licenses in order to get a local license? |
That particular group of license holders are Saudi citizens. (KSA doesn't recognize dual citizenship either.) It may be different for expats using their foreign or international license to drive in the kingdom.
If I'd had the option of driving during my 18 months in KSA, I probably would have still used a private driver and taxis. However, some of my long-term female expat colleagues and friends say they look forward to getting behind the wheel and not having to rely on someone else to shuttle them around for errands and trips to/from work. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
| In my 17 years in KSA, I was a driver for only a few months. Not worth the hassle. I used taxis and other forms of public transport, |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Saudi and expat women who choose not to drive will eventually have the option of using a ladies-only taxi/private service or microbuses driven by women. (I was a frequent user of the pink taxis in the UAE and expect them to be popular in KSA as well.) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sicklyman
Joined: 02 Feb 2013
Posts: 930
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 6:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
women driving to work in my office are telling us with amusement how local men are doing double-takes and giving them thumbs up and beaming smiles as they realise that women are actually driving in their country.
It'll be about a month before the already difficult task of finding a parking space at work becomes will nigh impossible. No one seems to have anticipated the impact of drivers no longer taking our ladies' cars back home with them they drop their charges off at work.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sheikhitnow
Joined: 29 Dec 2017
Posts: 32
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 5:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| scot47 wrote: |
| In my 17 years in KSA, I was a driver for only a few months. Not worth the hassle. I used taxis and other forms of public transport, |
Taxis between cities can be extremely dangerous.
I drove in the KSA for ten years (1992-96 and 2009-15), the second period being in Qassim around Buraidah and Oneizah. Buraidah especially at night was the worst driving experience in my life. It makes Bangkok and Chiang Mai traffic look like a stroll in the park picking daisies and getting kisses from Scarlett Johannson. And expats in Thailand complain about the local drivers. They have no idea.
It might have been more tolerable if my company car had been something better than a 1.6 l. Corolla, which my deceased mom when she was 96 could have pushed faster, and for which cinderblocks would have been a softer suspension.
Oh well, not a terrible problem to have--at least I didn't have to go on shopping buses once a week.
The women will soon tire of the Mad Max men on the roads. In fact they may experience a Mad Max Fury fury they never knew they had in them. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 1:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Sensible people in KSA (if there are any) minimise time on the road. One of the blessings of KFUPM is that you live on campus and never have to leave it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Makkah
Joined: 08 Oct 2014
Posts: 113
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 7:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sicklyman wrote: |
It'll be about a month before the already difficult task of finding a parking space at work becomes will nigh impossible. |
At this stage in your career I really thought you had your own reserved parking space  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
