Female driver who defied Saudi motoring ban dies in fatal road accident

A woman who defied a driving ban on female motorists in Saudi Arabia has died in a car crash.

Another was hurt in the crash in the only country in the world where females are banned from getting behind the wheel.

A police spokesman said that one of the women was killed instantly but the other had to go to hospital to be treated for her injuries.

The woman's death comes months after Manal Al-Sherif was detained for being behind the wheel in the only country in the world where women are banned from driving

They were in a four-wheel drive on Saturday evening in the northern Hael province when the accident happened.

'One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries' police spokesman Abdulaziz al-Zunaidi told AFP.

Their deaths come after they joined a growing number of women who have defied the ban since a high-profile campaign by a 32-year-old computer security consultant.

Manal al-Sherif was arrested and detained for 10 days in May after posting a video of herself on YouTube as she drover around Khobar, a city to the east of the country.

There has been a rise in women drivers since Manal al Sherif (pictured) was arrested and held for 10 days in May last year

al-Sherif and a group of other women started a Facebook page called 'Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself,' which urged authorities to lift the driving ban.

Several other Saudi women went on to film themselves behind the wheel of a car in the days after al-Sherif's detention.



Women struggle to get around in Saudi Arabia, and it isn't just a result of the driving ban.



Taxis can be sparse and some men refuse to drive a woman without a chaperone - usually their husband or a close male relative.



One of the arguments that was thrown out by officials was that it was illegal for women to possess a driving license but not for them to drive.



In September, a woman in Jeddah named Shayma Jastaniah was found guilty of driving through the streets.

She was sentenced to 10 lashes as a result of the charges despite holding an international driving license.