Is it illegal to drive barefoot?

Factual Questions
1

Got a speeding ticket yesterday, and after asking me to get out of the car the cop noticed I wasn’t wearing any shoes and told me he could write me up for that, but was only going to give me the speeding ticket. (“Yes sir, thank you sir”).

Is this true - it’s illegal to drive barefoot? Is it a state-by-state thing? I’d never heard of that before, and I drive barefoot all the time coming back from the beach. (When it isn’t foggy and 50 degrees out. I guess SF shouldn’t complain about that these days, eh? ô¿ô)

2

My CA traffic school cop said you can drive barefoot without any fear of recrimination.

Why would it be illegal? Are you any less able to use the brakes than someone wearing high heels?

3

I coulda sworn Cecil did a column on this one, but I can’t find it (I didn’t look too hard, I must admit).

4

Yeah, well my CA traffic school instructor told me a bunch of things that were total BS.

Like, fer instance, that the pedestrian Don’t Cross flashing orange are intended to warn drivers that the light is about to go yellow… when the one at the intersection right outside his classroom would repeatedly blink orange and then going back to white before the automobile signals changed. You could see it from your desk!

Dooku, I’m not aware of any CA law against barefoot driving, but that doesn’t mean there’s not one. And a cop can write you up for anything he feels is unsafe, under the general category of unsafe driving. There doesn’t need to be specific laws against barefoot driving or reading the newspaper while driving or using a cellphone while driving. He will have to justify the charge if you challenge it in court, and if you weren’t driving erratically or anything other than just speeding, then you’d have a good chance of getting it dropped by a judge.

Assuming there aren’t any SF or CA laws specifically prohibiting DWB (driving while barefoot).

5

I don’t know if it is against the law, but when I was growing up in GA I was always told that you can’t drive bare foot because there was a law. But no one ever gave any cite for that.

6

This came up on the snopes message board about three years ago (and may have come up sense . .I don’t go over there anymore) and the concensous was that driving barefot is not actualy illegal anywhere.

7

OK, so sounds like he was just messing with my head. (My friend suggested he was trying to get some sort of drunk reaction out of me, like me looking down at my feet, puzzled, and losing my equilibrium or something). Thanks all! I will continue to drive barefoot.

8

A cop ticketing you for driving barefoot is going to have the cite the section of the California Vehicle Code which would prohibit this type of driving.

What if you have a disability and drive with hand controls? Do you need to have shoes on then? What if you wear shoes and one of them comes while you’re driving? What if you are just wearing socks?

There are a lot of dumb laws and if someone digs this one up in the California Vehicle Code (or other relevant section), I will start the lobbying campaign to repeal this law or else I will tell the police to head out to Santa Monica and start ticketing people as they leave the beach.

9

Not sure if this site is legit but contained therein:

I believe my Grandma first told me that driving barefoot is illegal. However she told many a tall tale that took me thirty some years to refute :slight_smile:

10

My driver’s ed teacher told me that removing your shoes is the best way to prevent sleepiness at the wheel. If you take off your shoes when you get drowsy, it improves blood circulation and cools your body a lot, which will keep you awake. Or at least that’s the theory. I’ve done it plenty of times and it seems to work. YMMV.

11

Historically, the general reasoning behind the no-shoes, no-drive admonition was that, were you to be involved in a wreck and need to quickly exit the car in an emergency, the pulverized glass littering the immediate area would make it difficult to do so–and perhaps compromise your ability to assist your passengers.

It was also thought at one time that driving a two-ton automobile is a fairly serious endeavor and one that is incompatible with barefootedness and all that it presumably implies. Whatever.

12

Some friends of my mom’s once tried to convince her that it was illegal to drive barefoot, which she always does. They were normally quite smart and accurate in knowing obscure things, however when she asked them to show or tell her the specific law, they all clammed up and never mentioned it again. Here in Canada (Alberta anyways) it’s not illegal to drive barefoot. Such a law would make no sense. For one thing, you’d need to define what IS a “safe” driving shoe… floppy sandals, snow boots, high heels, 6" platform shoes, those dutch wooden shoes?, etc… Occasionally I notice I need to adjust where my feet are when I switch from running shoes to heavy winter boots covered in packed snow, but barefoot always feels the same. This last bit wasn’t what the question was asking though, so I’ll just add another “no, it’s not illegal” to the list.

13

A friend of mine (in my not-very-wild teen years) swore by bare feet because it allowed a prehensile grip on the clutch with his toes. Good for fast changes. Or so he reckoned. But try it, it does feel more controlled.

14

Hmmm…I’ve heard that it’s legal here in MA…and also not legal here in MA…???

During the summer, I drive barefoot more often than not. I seem to get better traction with the pedals, maybe because I can curl my toes around them…

15

See, I could understand the unsafe part of this. The sudden spasm of the shoe. . .the subsequent stickiness of the pedals. . .

16

I really hate it when my self-righteous indignation results in unintentional hilarity.

17

FWIW: Many, many moons ago I had to sit the California drivers’ test. I showed up barefoot (hippy chick back then) and was turned away because, the guy said, it was illegal to drive barefoot in California. :rolleyes:

18

I live in Missouri and have always heard that it is illegal to drive barefoot. The reason I was given one time was that in the old days (specific, hunh?) a cars accelerator had a part the driver could push down with their big toe to make you go faster than you could if you had shoes on. :rolleyes:

19

This subject was covered over a year ago on this board. No state laws make it illegal to drive barefoot. I posted this, but the code kiddie killed it. Here’s the link.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=13255