There’s nothing like being behind the wheel of a car with the silent asphalt beneath you. And the blue sky is an endless welcome mat ahead. With one or both hands on the helm, leaning or sitting upright, you’re in the driver’s seat.

After checking your lipstick and adjusting the rearview mirror, an errand becomes a mini excursion. No biggie. You go to Publix and buy items to prepare a green salad, au gratin potatoes, and steaks for supper. Or you may order a number 3 meal from McDonald’s for everyone. You could’ve asked your husband or son to pick up the items. But you didn’t.

It’s a 2015 Saturn VUE ‘get-away moment.’

And with 98.7 Kiss FM playing your favorite song, you are in control.

And you’re good to go!

You could drive across the United States.

Alice Ramsey did it in 1909. At age 22, she was the first woman to achieve this liberating feat. She made believers out of men who doubted the competence of females behind the wheel. Ramsey proved that women were as capable of driving as men were.

As drivers, women are in control of their destinies. The freedom to drive from point A to point B is economically and socially vital for men and women alike.

With the onset of mobility, it was a shoo-in that American women would drive. Individual mobility trumped being chauffeured any day.

In many countries, women fought for the legal right to drive. And women who defied the law were fined and/or jailed.

In Saudi Arabia, only men could drive. Saudi women didn’t receive the right to drive until June 2018? Ten women received their licenses on June 24. Until then, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world that prohibited women drivers.

Imagine your husband, son, or some other male in your family having to take you everywhere. Of course, you could also pay a male taxi or bus driver to take you to the market, work, mall, and other places.

Saudi officials thought women having the right to drive would lead to female safety issues, instability in the family, and other problems.

As it is in Saudi Arabia, other countries, and America, many women don’t want to drive.

But for those women in Saudi Arabia, who want to drive and steer their way through life, they can.