In an ironical incident, a woman who had actively protested the driving ban on female motorists in Saudi Arabia has died in a car crash.

While one woman was instantly killed, the other one survived with injuries and is being treated in the hospital, said the police.

One woman was immediately killed and her companion who was driving the car was hospitalised after she suffered several injuries, police spokesman Abdulaziz al-Zunaidi told AFP.

The fatal accident happened when their car overturned as they were driving through the northern Hael province on Saturday evening.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.

Both women had joined thousands of women protestors in defying the driving ban in a high-profile campaign launched by Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant.

Manal al-Sherif was arrested in May and detained for 10 days after she posted a video of hers on YouTube where she is seen driving around Khobar, a city to the east of the country. After that incident, Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in the number of women drivers.

It was al-Sherif and a few other women who started a Facebook page called Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself. The motive behind starting the page was to implore the authorities to lift the driving ban on women.

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