Saudi Arabia Woman Dies In Driving Accident

A woman in Saudi Arabia has died in a road accident after defying the country's ban on driving, AFP reports.

Manal Al-Sharif, a 32-year-old who famously defied Saudi Arabia's ban on driving for women, told The Guardian that the accident's victim was not part of an activist group, but instead belonged to a Bedouin community.

The Guardian writes:

Sharif and Rasha Al-Dowiia, another woman who has defied the kingdom's laws banning female drivers, said officials largely ignored the small bedouin community to which the dead woman belonged, in an area named Hael. They said women regularly drove there but police left them alone because the bedouin were detached from mainstream Saudi society.

According to the International Business Times, Al-Sharif and a number of other women were among the first activists to start a Facebook page advocating for Saudi women's right to drive. Al-Sharif was arrested after posting a video showing her driving around the city of Khobar.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.