King Abdullah, who is regarded as a reformer by Saudi standards, recently decreed that women would be allowed for the first time to vote and run as candidates in elections for municipal councils starting in 2015.
So far, though, he has not given them permission to drive.
You have to wonder if he considers driving more dangerous than voting.
In Saudi Arabia, no woman can travel, work, marry, get divorced, gain admittance to a public hospital or live independently without permission from a "mahram," or male guardian. Men can beat women who don't obey them and fathers or brothers have the right to prevent their female relatives from getting married if they don't approve of her suitor.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women -- both Saudi and foreign -- from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor.
The ban is rooted in religious edicts and Saudi Arabia's conservative traditional culture, which views limitations on women's freedom of movement as a necessity to prevent sins.
In most cases, the women who try driving are stopped by police and held until a male guardian is summoned and the women sign a pledge not to drive again. Some are referred to court.
This week, a Saudi court sentenced one woman, Shaima Jastaina, to ten lashes for driving, however, there is no actual written law banning women from driving and as a result, there is no set punishment for the offense. Saudi activists like Samar Badawi argue this means there is no legal basis for bringing the women to trial.
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