This young Saudi woman offers to teach women to drive ‘for free'

Behind the steering wheel of her own car, the Saudi young woman, Noura al-Dosari, is driving around in the residential compound she lives in in the eastern city of Dhahran, as her daily routine.

Dosari learned how to drive since 2010, in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and she was encouraged by her family. She has an international driving license.

After Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive, Dosari launched a voluntary initiative to teach women to drive cars.

Much more than just allowing women to drive

Welcomed

The initiative was widely accepted and welcomed by women, and around 15 Saudi women came forward to learn driving.

Noura spent more than five hours daily training them on driving lessons, using her private car.

In her interview with Al Arabiya.net, Dosari said she seeks through this initiative to enable the “new women drivers” with the required skills for proper and safe driving in a modern scientific manner and help them to recognize the dangers of the road and to understand the traffic to maintain their lives and others.

She also trains them to deal with emergency situations, be aware of simple maintenance issues, and how to deal with different traffic situations and dangers, within the training curriculum she had prepared for her trainees.

Traffic behavior and simulation

Dosari added that the training program includes, besides the theoretical aspects, mock experiments to simulate real situations.

These may range from a sudden obstacle in the way, such as wheels, bags, or infants, bicycles, and speedy drivers who suddenly deviate from their tracks, blocking the road, or the passage of a police car or ambulance.

She highlighted the importance that the woman driving the car should be aware of the basics of the maintenance of a car. It does not need a technical specialist, she said.

The woman driver also should be aware of how to be safe on the road and how to deal with malfunctions and emergencies.

Dosari uses this initiative in urging women to adhere to traffic appropriate behavior, accurately and carefully.

She pointed out her interest in ensuring that the trainees are capable of driving and get over their fear of taking the wheel, and praised the enthusiasm of the Saudi women.

They are learning how to drive quickly and efficiently as they are eager to get their driving license, added Dosary.
Social change

She concluded that allowing women to drive cars is one of the necessities of social change. It helps women to rely on themselves, run their errands without waiting for a taxi, or hiring a driver. It will also allow women to join the labor force and attain economic independence, thus empowering women to strengthen the labor market.

Dosary praised the Saudi women who crossed broke the rules and stereotypes of women in the local community, and she wishes she can encourage more women to learn to drive cars.

source: Alarabiya