Saudi woman fined for driving and her male guardian signs pledge that she won't do it again

An unidentified Saudi woman was briefly detained and penalised for driving before the ban is lifted in the ultra-conservative kingdom. She was fined an undisclosed amount and was released by authorities with a warning.

Saudi Arabia had recently announced the Sunni kingdom is finally lifting the ban on women driving vehicles. However, the new move comes into force only in June 2018.

The ban still being in place, a woman was seen flouting traffic regulations around a hotel in Riyadh. She was filmed leaving the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the Saudi capital.

After the video of the woman driving started doing the rounds on social media, police had summoned the violator. The nature of her penalty is still unclear.

"We call on all Saudi citizens to respect the law and wait until the ban on women driving formally ends," said a police spokesperson, according to the AFP news agency.

The woman's male guardian was also asked to sign on her behalf that she would not violate traffic rules again. Saudi Arabia, which follows strict Sharia laws, is the only state in the world where women are still prohibited from taking the wheel.

While many had welcomed the recent move of lifting the ban following a long struggle, others have said it was a much-delayed step.