Saudis deny allowing female visitors to replace international driving licences with local version

The Saudi Traffic Department has denied media reports that women visiting the Kingdom who hold an international driving licence are being allowed to drive vehicles for one year starting from the date of their entry into the country. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the statement was ascribed to a source in the Traffic Department and published by an unnamed online newspaper on Thursday.

The Director General of the Traffic Department, General Mohammed Al-Bassami, pointed out:

The test for women who are holding a foreign driving licence and want to replace it with a Saudi licence, will be carried out immediately after the completion of necessary preparations

According to the Saudi newspaper Okaz, which published the allegedly erroneous claim, the Traffic Department has already started to replace international licences for women visiting Saudi Arabia.

Read: Saudi arrests activists who campaigned for women’s driving

Al-Bassami, though, stressed the need to refer to official spokesmen for accurate information on public affairs, especially with regard to women driving in the Kingdom.

In September, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz issued a decree allowing women to drive cars in Saudi Arabia after a decades-long ban.