A Saudi woman got $80K in traffic fines ... but she can't legally drive

A Saudi woman residing in Jeddah was a bit perplexed – to say the least – when she received traffic fines totaling some 300,000 Saudi riyals ($80,000).

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive, but women are allowed to own and register vehicles in their names.

Despite the fact that the woman, identified as Narmeen, was quite certain she hadn't driven her vehicle and broken any rules, she received mobile notifications telling her that her car had broken traffic regulations a whopping 561 times.

She posted a plea with a Saudi daily asking that traffic authorities investigate the violations.

Narmeen noticed that the violations all occurred after she filed for divorce from her husband. He wasn't happy and decided to get back at his wife by attacking her financially ... using her car to rack up traffic fines.

"My husband wanted to exact revenge on me after I asked for a divorce by committing the violations," Narmeen said, according to Gulf News.

"I am of course still determined to go ahead with the divorce formalities and the case is now in the court," she said.

After Narmeen's story went public, traffic authorities acted quickly to resolve the bizarre situation.

"As soon as we heard about the case, we launched a probe into the violations,” Sulaiman Al Zikro, the head of traffic in Jeddah, said. 

He said that "necessary action" had been taken and the violations had been transferred to Narmeen's husband. "We also took the car from him and gave it back to her, [the] rightful owner," he said.

Looks like the husband's plan backfired big time.

"The traffic authorities acted promptly after they heard about my case and I am grateful that they have set the record straight," Narmeen said.

In 2015, the tables were turned when a Saudi woman had her brother commit traffic violations while driving her husband's car, racking up fines totaling 300,000 riyals as well.

Angered that her husband had taken a second wife, the woman and her brother spent the evening of the wedding celebration running red lights in her husband's car.

Some applauded the woman's clever plot at the time.

"I am sure he was happily joking around with his friends while his vehicle was recording traffic fines," Zahra, a Saudi blogger, said at the time. 

"He did not see it coming, of course, but he deserves what happened to him," she said, according Gulf News.