Skip to main content

Driving fit for a queen

The British queen is known as an enthusiastic driver, particularly for off-roading, but despite never having held a licence or sat a driving test. A legal anomaly means she has been able to drive without a licence although she did undergo training by the British Army when she served as a driver during WWII. Her off road driving skills are well known, particularly when at the wheel of her favoured Land Rovers. On one occasion during a formal visit by a previous Saudi king, he was surprised when she sat behin
December 14, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The British queen is known as an enthusiastic driver, particularly for off-roading, but despite never having held a licence or sat a driving test. A legal anomaly means she has been able to drive without a licence although she did undergo training by the British Army when she served as a driver during WWII. Her off road driving skills are well known, particularly when at the wheel of her favoured Land Rovers. On one occasion during a formal visit by a previous Saudi king, he was surprised when she sat behind the wheel of her Land Rover. Unused to being driven by a woman as females are forbidden to do so in his country, let alone a queen, he was perturbed at the pace she chose to drive at along the roads of the private estate. He repeatedly told his translator to ask her to slow down. They arrived at their destination unharmed but it is not known if he ever repeated the experience.

Related Content

  • ERIC 2016: What shape the ‘Smart Road’?
    February 7, 2017
    Optimism about the future of highways worldwide abounded at the inaugural European Road Infrastructure Conference (ERIC) in Leeds, UK. Around 500 delegates passed through the varied sessions during the three-day event at the Royal Armouries Museum in the northern English city of Leeds. They came away with many visions of what a motorway and road could look like. But what speakers at the event - co-organised by the Brussels-based European Union Road Federation (ERF) and the UK’s Road Safety Markings Associat
  • VIDEO: Kangaroo takes out cyclist down under
    July 25, 2016
    It caught all the cyclists by surprise when a young bounding kangaroo decided to hurl itself at the peloton during a bicycle race in Australia. A fellow racer trailing behind took the video. The targeted cyclist was severely bruised from hitting the deck and he needed stitches. But the marauding kangaroo apparently died from its injuries when it slammed into the bike at a right angle. Cyclists being taken out by kangaroos is more common than most non-Australians would think. Click here to see one cycl
  • India's road safety management innovations
    February 27, 2012
    Rohit Baluja is a man with a mission, and that is to help reduce the grim accident toll on India's roads, the worst in the world. Baluja, a shoemaker by trade, has been studying for a PhD in civil engineering, and this has involved regular trips to Birmingham, UK, to complete his doctorate. All this seems far removed from 18 years ago when in December 1991, using much of his own money, he founded the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), the only organisation in India that conducts accident investiga
  • Giving four hours back to the day… and much more
    October 7, 2019
    A 20km long elevated expressway in Dhaka will be one of Bangladesh’s first Public Private Partnership transport projects – words and pictures by Ruby Kitching, on behalf of Mott MacDonald.