[DaJo]

Taken from my local police department...


Q) Are you allowed to drive with bare feet?*
A) The short answer is yes.

The more complex answer is that while legal, driving with bare feet or other, less sturdy footwear may compromise your ability to control your vehicle should you be faced with changing road conditions, a collision or some other emergency.Here are a couple of examples:

• Going bare foot – some of you love to drive with bare feet. Please keep in mind, though, that it’s all about protecting your feet should you need to get out of your vehicle onto unstable or debris covered ground. An example would be if you were involved in a collision and the only way to a place of safety was across glass-littered ground.

• High heels may look nice, but they change your foot position and alignment. The foot is pointed and the heel is not fully resting on the floor (instead, it’s balanced on the heel point), which may make it more difficult for you to move your foot from pedal to pedal.

• Flip-flops are the go-to summer sandal, but they are less sturdy than shoes. They also live up to their name by flip-flopping around, which may not be conducive to safe driving.

• Wearing flip-flops while driving a motorcycle - it’s legal, but your feet will have no protection should you need to put your foot down quickly, and a flip-flop would simply disintegrate on the pavement – ouch! Beware of extreme road rash.

*So while the decision of what to wear on your feet while driving is up to you, please take into consideration what you will do if the road conditions change or if you are involved in a collision.This advice carries over into other seasons as well, and the same can be said for driving in ski boots. Legal, but perhaps not the best decision.

Happy driving, everyone!