Bulgarian exchange student has been convinced by her classmates that driving while wearing high heels is illegal in all fifty states. Sounds like Urban legend primarily because Bulgarian wear really ugly shoes. 
My wife remembers hearing driving while barefoot is illegal, but then she’s from south of the Mason-Dixon line, and barefoot is much more common there. All bunk, right? Are there any stupid footwear driving laws, anywhere?
Not really on the topic, but I did see a News of the Weird article not all that long ago about two deaths in Japan related to women wearing obnoxiously large platform shoes who couldn’t lift their foot up high enough to move over to the brake pedal at a critical moment while driving which lead to their demise.
We were always told in Drivers Ed that driving barefoot was illegal in CA. However, the California Highway Patrol says that there is no such law and even if there were, why would they bother to enforce it?
Here’s a whole bunch of words that boil down to: no, it’s not explicitly illegal in most states. However, you could get charged with reckless driving and have to defend yourself in court.
Seems like mostly a pissed-off cop sort of citation. Cheaper than the ol’ Mag-Lite through your tail light routine, though.
Sure, I’m all for moderation – as long as it’s not excessive.
I had car and motorcycle license in MA and NY and heard about a similar “law” way back when regarding having to wear shoes while driving, so ever since it stuck in my mind, but I never checked it out. I went back to the NY DMV and MA RMV driver’s manual and found nothing about this. The closest is the MA reference to motorcyclists:
“To ensuree good footing and protection against hot metal or moving parts, you should wear sturdy, over-the-ankle shoes when riding your motorcycle, rather than sneakers or sandals. Boots provide the best protection and offer additional ankle support.”
http://www.state.ma.us/rmv/forms/chpt31.pdf
I do remember clearly in the early 70’s in MA, that friends of mine in college had incidents with police over the lack of shoes while driving, probably after they were stopped for other things. I think back then, in the climate of pigs vs hippies, not having shoes on may be probable cause for searching for drugs, etc., particularly if you wear tie-die with long hair. I can’t confirm it though.
I’ve driven barefoot a few times and felt much less under control. Both braking and accelerating felt very strange. The effective surface area of the bottom of your bare foot is much less than the surface area of a (relatively) flat-soled shoe. Look at barefoot vs. soled footprints for a comparison. Also, the sole of a shoe is more stable and resistant to torsion than the bare foot. Both of these would affect control and accuracy. This is the argument for barefoot driving laws.
I have been driving barefoot for the last several years, particularly on long ski trips every weekend in winter. I found that the snow boots I usually put on is too hot while driving, so I take them off. Besides, they are usually over sized and unweildy. Driving barefoot feels different at first, but I get used to it very quickly. With an automatic car and power brakes, I found that control is not much of a problem at all. I even use my left foot for the gas padal at times when I get tired if I am not driving my wife’s van that has cruise control.
While in Montana I was thumbing through a citation book for the local mounties (no I wasn’t in trouble, it was while waiting to bail a friend out of jail) and ran across an allowance that it was legal to drive while barefoot.
I asked the officer standing nearby about it and he said that those statues were about to be amended, but had been around for a long time.
Check what the The AFU and Urban Legend Archive has to say about this:
Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington did not respond to the survey.
TT
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”
–James Thurber
Apparently I mispoke: Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Utah and Washington did not appear in the original survey, but this information was later obtained from the AAA.
TT
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”
–James Thurber
I drive (stick-shift) without shoes all the time. I have narrow heels, and if I’m wearing pumps they tend to slip off my heels while driving. I just feel safer if I just take the shoes off and drive in my stocking feet. The added bonus is that I avoid those nasty black marks on the back of my good shoes.
I’m from California, and I also remember being told in driver’s ed that it was illegal to drive in bare feet or in flip-flops. It may have been true at the time (late 70’s), or the teacher may have been making it up - it was just something the teacher said, I never saw it in print.
“The analyst went barking up the wrong tree, of course. I never should have mentioned unicorns to a Freudian.” – Dottie (“Jumpers” by Tom Stoppard)