When driving first began, in my parents generation, the majority of drivers were men. My mother and some of my friends mother’s didn’t drive. Not for tznius reasons, but it was a man’s role.
I do drive, but in trying to explain to others, I say, can you imagine a woman driving a large truck, no, that’s not refined or it’s not a woman’s role. It’s a more agressive, assertive or public role. In communities with a higher standard of tznius in many areas, this feeling remains that a woman driving is not the proper role for a woman – too much in the public eye, and in certain ways too agressive.
Although I drive here in the US, I would not drive in communities in Eretz Yisroel that have that standard as it is not respectful. You can do things differently and yet admire others for their higher standard and not have to put them down.