Driving isn't a privilege, it's a right. Jalopnik readers know the worst places in the world where this right is denied to women.
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Driving isn't just about moving people from point A to point B. Driving is about opening up the world for people otherwise limited to the jobs and opportunities of their immediate surroundings. Without a car, you're stuck with what goes on in your neighborhood, village, town, or city. With a car, you can get out to other towns with better employment or better values. The more difficult it is for a woman to drive, the less freedom she has, and the less chance she has to make her own life for herself. From this perspective, it's easy to see driving as a right more than a privilege.
So what other places restrict the right for women to drive? Let us know places (not just countries) that we left off in Kinja below.
Photo Credit: Trey Ratcliff
7.) Florida
We don't quite know what it is that brings on the crazy in Florida, but we keep seeing women drivers down there drive like maniacs because God told them to, crash into Lamborghinis, shave their pubes behind the wheel, and masturbate along the highway. We're not saying women aren't allowed to drive down there, it's just that they tend to be subject to disproportionate levels of insanity and, when they get caught doing insane things, it's immediately news because it happened in Florida.
Suggested By: KevinelviS, Photo Credit: Broward Country Sherriff's Office
6.) Motorsports
There are many opportunities for women to compete in motorsport, and car racing history is dotted with female teams that beat their male rivals. That said, these days, no matter how good a woman is at driving, all anyone wants to talk about is her sex appeal. We try our best to fight the stereotype, but there's only so much you can do.
Suggested By: Straightsix9904, Photo Credit: Getty Images/Maryeve Dufault
5.) Internet Car Forums
If you're a girl or a woman, good luck finding an automotive forum that will take you seriously. If you're a female gearhead, you've got an uphill battle against waves of drooling fanbois fawning over you.
Suggested By: Eggwich McSpencer, Photo Credit: Ari Helminen
4.) Lesotho
Lesotho is on this list because it has the hideous statistic of the highest rate of rape per capita of any country in the world at 91.6 out of 100,000 people. This is not a place for a woman to get stuck in traffic, or drive the wrong way down a street at night.
Suggested By: ranwhenparked, Photo Credit: Derek Green
3.) Indonesia
Pretty much all Muslim countries allow for women to drive, but things are not peachy for women drivers in Indonesia. As we pointed out yesterday, one city in the area of Aceh banned women from straddling motorbikes because "it will provoke the male driver." The city's mayor said the ban "is also to protect women from an undesirable condition." We can only assume this undesirable condition is women gaining mobility, independence, or possible a better life for themselves.
Suggested By: sunhawk, Photo Credit: Michael Renner
2.) Afghanistan
In Kabul, you find women driving themselves around town, but that's just about the only area in the country where this is the case. Afghanistan isn't a great place to be a woman, period. There are numerous reports of women getting beaten in Taliban-controlled areas, and that doesn't bode well for driving alone if you're a lady.
Suggested By: Proud to drive a beater, Photo Credit: Getty Images
1.) Saudi Arabia
This is a country where you can get arrested and charged with ten lashes just for driving. There's no written law that women aren't allowed to drive, but no local area will issue a woman a driver's license, making a de facto ban on driving. There's a movement to allow women to drive, and while the campaign has gained international attention, the ban still stands.
Suggested By: Ravey Mayvey Slurpee Surprise, Photo Credit: Manal al-Sharif