As from midnight on Saturday in Saudi Arabia women are officially allowed to drive
ADVERTISEMENTFrom midnight Saturday local time women in Saudi Arabia are officially allowed to drive.
The authorities made the decision in September 2017 and women have been preparing ever since by taking lessons.
The first driving licenses were issued earlier this month.
"I'm Very excited because we waited for this moment a very long time," said one woman who plans to get on the road as soon as possible.
Fiercely conservative Saudi Arabia was the only remaining country in the world where women were forbidden from taking the wheel, forcing families to hire private chauffeurs for female relatives.
"The second I heard that we are going to drive..I'm like...'sign me up', even if I don't go anywhere, just having that feeling of 'I could if I wanted to," another woman told NBC.
Tens of thousands of Saudi women have already applied to drivers schools.