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To Get a Driver or Not? The driving overall in the Kingdom is dangerous. The majority of the drivers will drive with an “it’s all about me” attitude and pay scant attention to the rules of the road. One must be constantly alert and drive defensively. Sadly, very few Saudi families can say they’ve never had a family member injured or killed in an auto accident.Due to the driving conditions I am not keen on driving in the Kingdom…even if I had the luxury to make such a decision. I would opt for a competent driver and let him safely navigate me from point A to point B. In addition, with a driver, I can easily multitask in the car choosing to make phone calls or read a newspaper, enjoy a cup of coffee or even do some work. I would also not have to worry about finding a parking spot or face the fear of being late for an appointment due to the inability to find a convenient parking lot. And of course, the driver could also run ad hoc errands rather than having to use my time of which there is too little.Now the down side to having to depend on a driver is the lack of control to a degree over arriving at a destination at the appointed time or being collected at the appointed time. You would think if a driver depends on you for his salary he would ensure that he is punctual but that does not always seem to be the case here in the Kingdom. And of course, for those like me who do not have a dedicated driver, then we are dependent on the good auspices of whomever is filling the role of driver to be understanding and get us to destinations and appointments on time. Not all “volunteer” drivers will share the same sense of responsibility and timeliness.So in sum, there are pros and cons to either having a dedicated driver or going without a driver and relying on someones goodwill for transportation. To my knowledge there is no dedicated transport system for women-only in the Kingdom. There are private taxi services but these can also have their pros and cons. Perhaps with increased women in the workforce at some future point the Kingdom would consider dedicated transport services for women-only.If you wish to comment on this posting and not a myspace member, send me an email. Site the subject which I gave for this posting and then your comment so I will post it to the appropriate blog posting. Also it helps to advise how you wish to be attributed such as anonymous or some other name…:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />I will state upfront that if a comment is inappropriate I would not post it. I’m pretty open and an example of what I mean by inappropriate is that at one time someone posted links to anti-american videos and the like. My blog is not for anti-America or anti-Saudi bashing. Yes; there are aspects to each country or society one may not like but if it is going to be discussed, it is going to be in an adult and constructive manner!so, my email address for your comments to be uploaded is: american_bedu(at)yahoo(dot)com 12:09 AM – 2 Comments – 0 Kudos – Add Comment – Edit – Remove |
Filed under: gender, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, women driving
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