Saudi Arabia just officially licensed its first female drivers

First female driving license in Saudi Arabia.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Arab News)

Saudi Arabia on Monday issued its first-ever driving licenses to women, granting 10 Saudi women with Kingdom-approved licenses. The cards, doled out by Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Traffic, will allow women to drive in the Kingdom.

The women were already in possession of foreign driving licenses, Arab News explains, and those foreign licenses will be replaced by Saudi ones. The women were subject to a practical driving test before eventually receiving their new licenses Monday.

A royal decree in September 2017 first announced an end to the ban on women driving, and Saudi women with valid Kingdom licenses will be allowed to take to the roads starting June 24. Watch video of the first woman receiving her license Monday below, courtesy of Arab News. Kimberly Alters

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Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.