You have probably found yourself or know someone who has engaged in driving without shoes. However, is driving without shoes illegal?
NO. It is not illegal to drive without shoes but it is often considered unsafe behavior. Actually, there is no law in all the 50 State of USA that prohibits driving bare foot. So, is it illegal to drive barefoot? No.
However, it is not recommended to drive without shoes or barefoot because chances of your bare foot slipping off the gas pedal or brake pedal is high and the aftermath can be disastrous. You should wear appropriate footwear when driving.
It is at the discretion of the driver to choose to drive with shoes or barefoot. However, despite it not being illegal to drive without shoes on, barefoot driving and wearing the wrong footwear such as heels when driving can be a great contributory to causing accidents. Barefoot driving is a high risk contributor to negligence and reckless driving styles.
10 Reasons Not To Drive Without Shoes
However, high the environmental temperatures are and you feel like your feet need to stay off the shoes, do not remove you shoes to drive barefoot. Get the right breathable shoes that will be comfortable on your feet even in hot weather without being forced to drive barefoot. Here are reasons why you should not drive without shoes on.
1.Slippery Feet On The Pedals
As you frequently apply pressure on the gas and brake pedals, friction between your feet and the pedals causes your feet to sweat. As a result, your feet becomes slippery. In such as case you may attempt to press the break or the gas pedal but your feet slips off making you not do the right move.
You may end up failing to initiate an emergency brake and end up bumping on another car or bump into something accidentally. Not that barefoot and sweaty feet may fail to initiate the needed pressure on the pedals making an incorrect reaction that can be fatal.
2. Pain In The Feet
The car’s pedal are often designed in a manner to increase friction between the pedal and your shoe to prevent slipping when your feet applies pressure on the pedals. However, when driving barefoot, your feet can experience sourness and pain due to the resultant friction.
The experience can be traumatizing in both long distance driving and short distance driving. Furthermore, as human nature we try to eliminate chances of us feeling pain.
Consequently, with painful feet you may fail to apply the correct pressure on the pedals when needed and you end up failing to safely control your vehicle.
3. Inability To Exert Needed Pressure on The Pedal
Operating manual cars need your feet to be energetic enough to apply pressure on the pedal. Furthermore, the pedals have been designed in a manner that they are not too sensitive for small pressure to reduce the risk of triggering an intended action. You have to apply real force to activate the pedals to do what you intend to do.
When wearing shoes, it is much easier to apply pressure and evenly distribute the pressure on the pedal without straining. However, when driving barefoot the needed pressure is less likely to be achieved and chances of triggering unintended accidents is high.
4. Risk Of Injuring Barefoot Is High
Driving barefoot is risking in the instance of emergency. For instance, in the case of an accident a barefoot is at high risk of being injured by broken glasses.
Also, in the instance you have to rush outside the car to save yourself, running barefoot can cause you more harm than good and sometimes the injury on your barefoot can make it difficult for you to escape a scene.
Furthermore, for those driving small cars sometimes in a minor accident or during a breakdown you have to find a way to push your car off the road. Pushing the car barefoot is quite hard as you can be injured by the rough road or debris on the road.
Avoid Poor Choice Of Footwear Include:
Uncomfortable shoes:
Shoes that suppress your feet to cause discomfort to you can cause driver distraction
Slick sole shoes:
Slick soles easily slip over the pedals. You may miss to step on the gas or brake pedal resulting in an intended action. Besides, frequent slipping off your feet can be a distraction to a driver intending to put on the shoes.
Flip Flops:
Flip flop shoe types is likely to slip off your feet and get trapped underneath or in between the pedals resulting in distraction a driver
Inflexible shoes:
Shoes that hinder free movement of your feet should be avoided. Driving in heels makes your feet inflexible to move about the pedals. Besides, since the heels are high, poor misjudgment on the needed pressure to be applied on a pedal can be made.
High soled shoes:
Poor judgement on the amount of pressure to apply on the pedals can be made when you drive with an extremely thick soled shoes. You can end up pressing too fast or too slow on a pedal and the after math can be dangerous.
Wide sole shoes and wedges:
Wide sole shoes can easily make you apply pressure on the wrong pedal. Besides, wedges can make you not put the needed pressure on the pedal. Besides, the shoe can get trapped behind the gas or brake pedal.
What Do You Do If You Have To Drive Without Shoes?
Although not advisable to drive when your feet has a problem such as an injury, or you simply wish not to wear shoes when driving do this:
Keep Your Shoes Safely
Ensure that all your unworn shoes are at the passenger side. Do not leave shoes or any litter in the driver’s side because the objects can roll over and hit the pedals. The aftermath can be fatal.
Dry Feet
Ensure your feet are very dry and not oily when driving barefoot. Slippery feet can easily slip off the pedal making you to either wrongfully miss to apply pressure on a pedal or apply pressure on a wrong pedal/
Have Comfortable Sneakers
If all shoes are uncomfortable to wear for reasons best known to you, have sneakers in your car. Wear the sneakers when driving and remove them as soon as you are done driving.
No Armoring Of Pedals
Do not armor-all your gas and brake pedals. Armoring the pedals makes them slippery and can easily trigger wrong application of pressure when needed.
Recommended Footwear For Driving
Despite you having your own preference of the shoes to wear, the shoes for driving should ideally meet the following conditions:
- Allow free movement of ankle
- Light enough for ease movement of the feet
- Narrow just enough to fit your foot without having to accidentally press two pedals at the same time
- The shoe surface in contact with the pedal should not be slippery but offer a good grip
- You shoe sole should not be extremely thicker than 10mm and not be very thin
Related:
- Is it illegal to drive without a shirt?
- Is it illegal to drive with both feet?
- Is it illegal to drive with flip flops?
14. Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is it illegal to drive without shoes on?
No. There is no law yet that has prohibited driving barefoot. However, it is not recommended to drive without shoes as barefoot driving increases the risk of negligence and accidents.
2. Why is it illegal to drive without shoes?
It is not illegal to drive without shoes but it is a bad practice because it can trigger distractions when your feet
- Slides off a pedal,
- Miss to apply pressure on a pedal when your feet slides off,
- Driving bare foot can cause pain for long distance driving causing a distraction,
- Your feet can sweat making them easily slip off the pedals,
- There is high risk of causing accidents when you drive barefoot.
3. Was it ever illegal to drive barefoot?
No. None of the USA State has passed a law to make it illegal to drive barefoot. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
4. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in California? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
5. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Florida? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
6. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Georgia? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
7. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Maryland? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
8. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Michigan? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
9. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Missouri? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
10. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Ohio? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
11. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Oklahoma? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
12. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Pennsylvania? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
13. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Texas? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
14. Is it illegal to drive without shoes in Virginia? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
15. Is it illegal to drive barefoot? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
16. Is it illegal to drive barefoot in Florida? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
17. Is it illegal to drive barefoot in NC? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
18. Is it illegal to drive barefoot Ohio? No. You can drive barefoot but it is not recommended
Another article you may like to read: How close can you park to a stop sign?
Conclusion
Is driving without shoes illegal? No. Is it illegal to drive barefoot? No. None on the USA States has banned driving without shoes. However, you should not drive without your shoes on. Choose the right driving footwear. If you have to drive barefoot engage in best practices to prevent your feet from slipping off the pedals. So, the answer to is it illegal to drive without shoes on? No.
