Saudi woman defies driving ban by getting behind the wheel (and other motorists give her thumbs-up in support)

An unnamed female motorist has defied Saudi Arabia's driving ban -by filming herself getting behind the wheel.

The unidentified woman is shown on film driving along a Saudi carriageway, dressed in a black veil, in broad daylight.

She is spotted by other drivers, who turn towards her and provide support by giving thumbs-up.

There is no law banning Saudi Arabian women from driving, but at the same time female are not allowed to apply for a driver's license.

The video emerged just a fortnight after a conservative Saudi cleric said female drivers risk damaging their ovaries.

Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan, a judicial adviser to an association of Gulf psychologists, said last month: 'If a woman drives a car, not out of pure necessity, that could have negative physiological impacts as functional and physiological medical studies show that it automatically affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upwards.'

A campaign has been launched calling for Saudi women to defy the ban in a protest drive on October 26.

Female members of Saudi Arabia's Shoura Council, an influential group that advises King Abdullah, have recommended that the driving ban be repealed, according to Reuters.