I am writing with regard to the post "It is unsafe for women to drive in Saudi Arabia" (Oct. 24). I have lived, worked and driven cars on five continents and nowhere have I found more undisciplined drivers than in Saudi Arabia. It is not the Saudi man who is undisciplined, it the Saudi man behind the wheel. The change in mentality is dreadful once most of them are behind the wheel. Young men drive with their hormones instead of with their brains, causing stupid and reckless driving. My wife has driven also on five continents but she would refuse to drive here, as it is too unsafe even for her. The mentality of drivers must be changed! Barthol, Online response II. If it is so dangerous, why do you let your sons drive in Saudi Arabia? Don't you love them? Why do you let your children be passengers in vehicles on the unsafe roads here? The arguments that "it's too dangerous" and "wait until it's safe" are false. Of course, road safety should be improved. But that has nothing to do with a woman's right to drive. E. Sanders, Online response III. It is shocking to realize to what extent people will go to justify their wrong thinking. The decision for women to be allowed to take their place in the driver's seat should only be concerned with whether or not it makes sense in terms of Islam and economics. Many women work and their need for drivers can contribute to other issues, such as non-mahram interaction. The problem of reckless driving on the Kingdom's roads has nothing to do with women driving but rather with the poor regard for rules and regulations by many drivers in Saudi Arabia. Osama Imam, Online response IV. Yes, many men drive like crazy in Saudi Arabia, but that should not be the reason for preventing women from driving. The Kingdom must think of ways to overcome this problem, particularly by adding more traffic police to make the roads safer. You can see many cars running red lights without being apprehended. Nimrod, Online response V. It keeps coming back to the issue of the behavior of men especially young men. Women are caged because of the perceived lack of control and "hungry animal" behavior of young men. Is this true? Are the rules of society not applicable to them or are we contributing to their "lawlessness"? I would have thought it would be safer for women to drive in Saudi Arabia than anywhere else in the world because of the respect they are (supposedly) afforded here. Knopkop, Online response
