Though women were allowed to drive since June 2018, several Saudi families have recruited as many as 459 foreign women drivers during the first quarter of the year, Makkah daily said on Monday quoting a report by the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).

According to the report, by the end of March 2019, there were 1.54 million foreign home drivers compared to 1.36 million in 2018 with a rise of 12.8 percent.

Instructors at women schools to teach driving believe that some Saudi families prefer women drivers over men out of fear that male drivers may harass and ill-treat their children.

They also said the families opt for recruiting women drivers because they can do more than one job such as doing grocery, cleaning the house and ironing clothes.

The instructors said even when a Saudi woman obtains a driving license, this is not a guarantee that she will drive her children to the school.

They said over the years, when women become expert drivers, there will be a drop in the recruitment of foreign drivers.

Some local recruitment offices said many Saudi families were asking for housemaids with driving licenses so that they can do home chores and at the same time drive their children to schools.

They said this is not possible because the housemaids are recruited only to perform home chores not to drive cars.

SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE