Okaz

A few days ago, a video went viral on social media showing a man shooting his wife because she, according to him, dared to drive a car without his approval. This was, however, a big lie. The video is almost a year old and has nothing to do with women driving.

This is not the only unauthentic message on social media relating to women driving. We also, recently, heard of two other accidents apparently caused by women drivers. Looking at the contents and comments, one would assume that it was only women drivers who were involved in car accidents. This is the case even though we hear on almost a daily basis about car accidents involving men.

Highlighting car accidents involving women is nothing but some hopeless attempt to scare women so that they will not get behind the wheel. People who are opposed to women driving have been, for many years, concocting excuses.

They began by saying that women are forbidden to drive in Islam and that doing so is rejected by Saudi society and culture. Once the law was passed, they began making fake videos showing male relatives of female drivers harassing them. Spreading such rumors is another way of saying that it is permissible for a male guardian to shoot his wife or daughter for driving.

I call on people to think deeply about the messages they receive before sharing them with others. I also hope that such rumors do not scare our women and stop them from driving.

Budding female drivers also need to realize that they need some lessons before they get behind the wheel and that they should not pay any attention to what is being said about car accidents relating to women.