# Driving barefoot **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 13, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907 "2007-05-13T05:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/41 "2007-05-15T21:59:15Z")
I never realized there were so many people who drove barefoot. I guess I’m a prude (don’t like my feet naked in the car, but they give it up at home). I’ve tried driving barefoot before, but every time I do, I feel like my feet are slipping around on the pedals, that I can’t put as much pressure on them as when shod and that my feet are more likely to get tangled up with the pedals than when I’m wearing shoes. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/42 "2007-05-15T22:06:36Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] Is this going to end up a “do you take your shoes off in the car?” thread? [/QUOTE] To be fair, the OP did ask. 😉 I take off my shoes when I am driving long distance or in the heat, but I throw them to the passenger side so there’s no way they can find their way behind the pedals. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/43 "2007-05-15T22:14:23Z")
[QUOTE=si\_blakely] It’s like flying - I fly barefoot. But takeoff and landing, it’s shoes on for everyone in my family. In an emergency ,the last thing you want to be worrying about is your feet and what you might tread on [/QUOTE] [hijack]Actually, one of the first things the crew will be telling you in case of an airplane emergency is “SHOES OFF” so you can slide down the emergency slide without somersaulting onto the tarmac or damaging the slide…[/hijack] As to the actual discussion: I’ve once had a flip-flop slide off my foot and get stuck under the brake pedal - very scary. Since I’ve had the same question today myself I did some research: Over here in Germany, apparently, barefoot driving is not forbidden per se. Although it seems that you might be at fault if an accident happens because you are barefoot (e.g. if you can’t push down on the brake pedal hard enough). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/44 "2007-05-15T22:16:55Z")
[QUOTE=Einmon] [hijack]Actually, one of the first things the crew will be telling you in case of an airplane emergency is “SHOES OFF” so you can slide down the emergency slide without somersaulting onto the tarmac or damaging the slide…[/hijack] [/QUOTE] I think “hijack” is the WRONG internet shorthand to use in that post! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/45 "2007-05-15T22:41:23Z")
I don’t like to drive barefoot. It hurts. All you weirdos can continue to drive barefoot if you like, though, it doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/46 "2007-05-15T23:10:03Z")
When I got a speeding ticket in California a couple of decades or so ago, I was given the opportunity to atone for my sin by attending a driver training class rather than getting points on my license. The instructor was a Highway Patrolman. He must have talked for 20 minutes about the people (usually women) who would struggle like mad to get their shoes on when they were pulled over–sometimes trying to pull over _while_ putting on shoes so he wouldn’t know they were driving barefoot. The punch line, of course, was that there’s no law in California against driving barefoot. I’ve never checked here in Montana. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/47 "2007-05-16T00:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=overlyverbose] I never realized there were so many people who drove barefoot. I guess I’m a prude (don’t like my feet naked in the car, but they give it up at home). I’ve tried driving barefoot before, but every time I do, I feel like my feet are slipping around on the pedals, that I can’t put as much pressure on them as when shod and that my feet are more likely to get tangled up with the pedals than when I’m wearing shoes. [/QUOTE] Do you have long monkey toes or what? :eek: How does being barefoot tangle up your feet with the pedals? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/48 "2007-05-16T15:05:17Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Do you have long monkey toes or what? :eek: How does being barefoot tangle up your feet with the pedals? 😕 [/QUOTE] Nope, no monkey toes. Though my son has 'em - must have skipped a generation. I just feel like my shoes provide a wider, consistent platform while my toes are more spread out. It’s more of a mental thing, really. I just feel like my feet are all over the place where my shoes stay in one place. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/49 "2007-05-16T15:29:47Z")
I found when driving barefoot that I could control the pedal better, by curling my toes over the top of it. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/50 "2007-05-16T15:29:48Z")
[QUOTE=Earthworm Jim] Cars are deathtraps regardless of whether or not you’re wearing shoes. For example (also read: Anecdote Time!) I had my clutch go out ~50 miles from home as a kid. I’ve had a bottle of (water, soda, something) get trapped underneath my brake pedal. Scary! I’ve had my brakes stop working - pedal sink to the floor with no response. Another scary moment! I’ve had 3 out of 5 lug nuts on my front drivers-side tire shear off on a 500 mile trip (with my new wife & stepdaughter in the car). I’ve had a radiator hose bust & had to bandage it with duct tape (saving lives since 1942). I had my car die & refuse to start in the middle of I-95 in Boston during rush hour. I’ve had my transmission fall apart at ~75 MPH. I’ve had some belt or other snap & lost power steering. I’ve had my timing belt snap. I’ve had several alternators go & at least once had to replace it while standing in a foot of icy slushy snowy water during a snow storm. I’ve had all my lights die while driving at night. I’ve had a fuel line rupture - want to talk nausea? Breath gasoline while stuck in traffic in 100 degree weather with no AC! I’ve had my windshield wipers die during downpours in two different cars. I’ve been caught out at 2 AM in the middle of rural Maryland after a fresh snow & had no idea where the road ended & certain death began. I **have** forgotten I was driving an automatic & hit the brake with both feet a few times, but I’ve never **missed** a pedal… But at least I’ve never stubbed a toe. 😃 [/QUOTE] Thank you, **Earthworm Jim** , but I \*won’t \* be carpooling with you afterall. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/51 "2007-05-22T02:40:11Z")
[QUOTE=si\_blakely] It’s like flying - I fly barefoot. But takeoff and landing, it’s shoes on for everyone in my family. In an emergency ,the last thing you want to be worrying about is your feet and what you might tread on. [/QUOTE] Hey! I fly barefoot, too! Although I must say, it’s quite different than in a car. Airplane rudder pedals are frequently much wider and longer than the gas/brake/clutch pedals in a car, and thus less likely to dig into a tender spot. Must add that in such circustances the shoes are secured so they don’t crash about or interfere with anything, but also readily available in the event they are needed quickly. Oh, wait - perhaps you were referring to flying as a commercial passenger and not a pilot… It’s all good! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/52 "2007-05-22T05:42:10Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one who drives barefoot. It is nice on long trips and right after standing at work in steel toed boots for 12 hours. Yes, it would suck if there were an accident and glass everywhere. But my sandles are close at hand, and unless it was a big accident I should be able to grab them easily enough. I’ve never had my foot slip off the petal while barefoot. I have with high heels though. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2007, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907/53 "2007-05-22T09:55:49Z")
In Spain it’s illegal. You have to drive “wearing appropiate shoes (no flip-flops, mules, stilettos).” So, since I learned to drive in Spain, I’ve never done it barefoot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-barefoot/403907.md?page=2)