Collection 2: "In a Scattered Protest, Saudi Women Take the Wheel"

There appeared to be few confrontations reported with either the traffic or morals police, and at least half a dozen women who were stopped were escorted home and admonished not to drive again, said activists reached by telephone.

From its inception in April, the protest against the longstanding ban was far smaller than initially anticipated, but it was not meant to be a mass driving effort.

Rather, women with legal driver’s licenses from other countries were urged to run mundane errands—going to the grocery store, perhaps—in order to underscore the fact that it should be normal for women to drive.

Rather, women with legal driver’s licenses from other countries were urged to run mundane errands—going to the grocery store, perhaps—in order to underscore the fact that it should be normal for women to drive.

Many supporters were disappointed, feeling that she had jumped the gun and jeopardized them all by taking a confrontational approach.

“Women in Saudi Arabia see other women in the Middle East making revolutions, women in Yemen and Egypt at the forefront of revolutions, being so bold, toppling entire governments,” said Waleed Abu Alkhair, whose wife drove around Jidda.

In the weeks after Ms. Sharif’s arrest, a debate erupted between conservative clerics and their followers and the kingdom’s increasingly outspoken women.

Many young married women decry the fact that they cannot afford that, not to mention the driver’s salary, about $600 a month.

The more liberal princes support allowing women to drive.

Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud, 79 years old and long among the most outspoken members of the royal family, argues that such reforms lag because the leading members of the family have failed to yield any power or influence to younger generations.