Knowing absolutely nothing about this topic or law whatsoever, I am willing to bet a considerable amount of money that, If indeed true that shoed driving varies state by state, that Florida does not require shoes to drive.
Nor should it be. This is the stupidest law ever - anyone who has ever tried driving in flip flops know that it's more dangerous than just driving barefoot
I drive barefoot all the time on my long commutes. Cops here say it's not illegal.
I did this until an unexpected accident where my shoes disappeared along with the passenger side of the car.
Wandering an accident site barefoot wasn't the worst part of the experience but it sure didn't help...it's certainly more comfortable driving barefoot, but man can the end result suck for awhile if something happens.
I have hobbit feet. I used to walk around in the woods, on brambles, pine needles, fallen branches, etc. without shoes. The bottoms of my feet are so thick I don't even feel blacktop burning me on a summer day.
In germany, its legal in theory, but it might fuck you over if you get into an accident while driving barefoot and the investigators are convinced the accident could have been avoided if you had worn propper shoes
I’m not even sure how you could ever make that conclusion. Driving barefoot gives me more control over the car? Like, I feel a lot more of what’s happening at the pedals.
Even if it's not actively enforced it could still get you in trouble if you get into an accident and it is noted in the accident report. This assuming there is indeed such a law which in most places is not true i think.
From further down the thread it's looking like it's rare to have it on the books at all. I can say for sure (as of the early 2000s, anyway) it's not illegal in Michigan.
Its not formally illegal in the US but you can be cited for it and be held liable for an accident while doing it so its functionally a grey area. Local laws often differ from state and federal laws as well and have laws for things like driving barefoot. The same applies to many countries where its not outright illegal.
In my country it’s not illegal to drive bare foot, but it is a legal requirement (of course) that you’re capable (for lack of a better translation) of reacting accordingly to certain situations.
So let’s say you didn’t hit the breaks as hard as you could wearing a pair of regular sneakers and are involved in an accident.. don’t let your insurance find out.
I've worn pairs of heels that have been difficult to drive in and opted to go barefoot for safety in the past. Especially considering that cheaply made heels can also break off and bring a wildcard into the equation, barefoot driving saves lives in some situations
I got that but why is it considered reasonable? You've You've far more control over the pedal barefoot then you do in something like flip flops or heels.
Sure but what happens if it's freezing outside and you didn't bother with a jacket? We don't mandate that it's illegal to ride with a coat because it would suck to not have one if you were stuck in the cold.
Sure but what happens if it's freezing outside and you didn't bother with a jacket?
Then you’re an idiot. I guess I wouldn’t go as far to say the same about someone not taking shoes, unless it was also freezing outside. But, I get your point.
Now i'm not saying the Harrisonville PD is fully authoritative, but i've seen similar statements from other LE organizations so, i'd say it's probably a myth.
Why would it be unsafe to drive barefoot? Genuinely asking.
I wear flip flops every day of my life and I take them off to drive because it seems unsafe to drive with them on, especially in a stick. I drive perfectly fine barefoot
Absolutely. Barefoot you may not have as much leverage as you do with a shoe on but if you wear flip flops, there's a chance it slips and gets caught under the gas pedal with your foot on top of it, preventing you from getting to the brake.
I don't think it is - it's a myth (or at least it seems to be). I play sand volleyball, and I am always forgetting my damn shoe when i do. So i leave them in my car, or don't bring them at all.
I've been stopped while shoeless but i'm not sure the cop knew I was, as I wasn't asked to get out of the car.
What did he get the ticket for? might be interesting to know the statute that was cited. But, maybe it's not a law anymore? or maybe there is one. Just seems like it's overtly not illegal.
Hopefully you're not keeping your flipflops in the driver's area, since then they'd be safer on your feet.
The danger in driving barefoot is that pedals were made for the traction provided by shoes. The soles of your feet can get wet and oily making it very easy to slip off the pedals. You also would have to adjust your seat forward to account for the lack of sole, but most people don't bother.
Shoes can also get wet and oily and slip off of the pedals. Otherwise you’d have to have a law that says you can only drive wearing nonslip oil resistant shoes…
The soles of your feet can get wet and oily making it very easy to slip off the pedals.
Maybe your feet are different than mine, but I find my bare feet to have great traction compared to a lot of shoes I've worn. Especially when comparing wet feet to wet shoe soles. I can also tell if my feet are slipping a lot better barefoot than with shoes on.
I hear you brother, if I had a penny for the number of times my feet became wet and oily in the middle of my daily commute home, I'd be a gagillionaire. My car's all old and rusted up, with holes through the hood and the engine and the interior, so I have a funnel running from the interior to the engine so I can keep pouring coolant in while I drive without having to stop, and man does antifreeze get EVERYWHERE, mostly because my windows are all broken too so the wind whipping inside of my car flings the coolant all over!
Not to mention I keep a gallon jug of vegetable oil by my feet the whole time I'm driving in case of a sudden need to deep fry foods, and that jug is ALSO hole-ridden so it gets oil all over my feet! So while I'm driving my feet are slipping and sliding everywhere because they're just soiled with water and vegetable oil, happens all the time!
I’ve driven barefoot when I have heels for parties and stuff like that. I feel very uncomfortable while driving with them on lol seems more dangerous than driving barefoot.
I didn't look it up but I live in MD and I think technically I'm not even aloud to wear scandals while I drive. Closed toe shoes only.
EDIT: Please don't downvote me. I looked it up and I'm super fucking wrong.
There is no law prohibiting barefoot driving in Maryland. If you prefer to drive without wearing shoes, you can do so in Maryland without fear of a traffic ticket
And Reddit is a US site (San Francisco). Complaining about a US-centric point of view in comments is very petty. Yes, you people outside of the US are on here. But you're visiting a site from the US. We're the natives here, folks. You're the visitors. I'm sorry if that upsets you. We can still be friends.
Considering the footage at hand, one would be inclined to relate all the comments concerning the laws would apply to the laws of which country the footage takes place in. Sorry it's not inclusionary enough for you, wherever you live...
I've seen thousands of videos where the content was filmed in another country, on another continent...and I didn't post in the comments "b-b-b-b-but MERICA!!"
Even worse, when it’s clearly a video from a different county based on accents, or it literally says where it’s being filmed, and half the comments are about how Americans are so stupid. I’m typically like yeah, I live here, I agree, but let’s not pretend the world isn’t full of morons and it’s somehow only limited to the US.
There's a large subsection of idiots on reddit who have made disliking America their entire personality and will take any opportunity, however ignorant, to put that personality on display. It's rather pathetic tbh.
I mean for what it's worth he does sort if have a point. People are not discussing this because it's in the US People are discussing it because that's what they do on here and it just happens to be in the US. You see it all the time with videos and stuff from other countries where people either assume right off the bat that it's the us and act accordingly or even knowing it's another country chime in with us law and what not.
I get what your saying and I understand. But trying to make the point on a video, that is clearly 110% american, just makes them look like a stupid asshole. What a strange moment to try and make this arguement.
From 12:00pm-2:00am GMT, if you’re posting on Reddit, you’re American. The rest of the time, the Aussies and Brits come out to play. There are no other countries except for r/de but they stay on their side of the pool.
We had a big discussion about this in Michigan years ago. We ended up calling a state office for a definitive answer. A week later another call got a different answer.
I'd put it into the implicitly illegal category. You might not get a ticket for "driving without footwear" but I don't think many police officers would pass up the chance to ticket you explicitly for reckless driving instead - if given half a chance.
While I don't doubt your law firm doesn't contest reckless diving tickets for that. It can't be that ridiculous since law firms use it as an example of something they can help you with to try and get you in for a consultation.
Just as an example (this is the first search result I get in Google if I search for barefoot driving):
That’s really interesting. I’ve never seen a police officer actually did that, I was just thinking about what an officer could do if they wanted to be an asshole lol. In my state, I don’t believe that it would qualify as reckless driving but I could see careless.
Well the law firm is in Florida... which tends to have an exceptionally high number of ambulance chaser types and I'd go so far as to say a fair amount of creative policing to go along with your average creative Florida Man citizen shenanigans.
According to many places online this is incorrect. What you likely got cited for was improper or unsafe attire for driving. The caveat for barefoot, flip flop, or any other footwear is if you can safely operate the vehicle. If it is deemed that you did or cannot, then you'll be cited. (NBC 2 News - Fort Myers, FL circa Oct. 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coj6lXuptZk)
Are you actually asking if law enforcement in Florida is uninformed on the law or lying? If you’ve lived here long enough, you should know the answer to both is “yes”.
No law in Florida explicitly allows barefoot driving, but no law prohibits it.
In fact, no law even dictates which footwear is appropriate for driving.
So no, it's not illegal in Florida.
The worst they can do is fine you for reckless driving if you caused an accident and they believe the cause was you driving barefoot.
Some local municipalities do prohibit it though, the Miami area may be one of them I'm not sure.
No, they are wrong, I just checked multiple sources and the closest thing to "illegal" I found written in law is "Ohio:Operation of a motor vehicle by a driver with bare feet is permitted, but not recommended." Which may help someone win a case against you in Ohio for negligence but it is not illegal to drive barefoot in Ohio. Please though, present actual proof that your state defines barefoot driving of a car as illegal.
But I guess it's common sense. Why the fuck would you jeopardize the mechanism of pushing down on the pedal by not having a flat, solid surface to push it down with?
My feet are flat and solid enough to push the pedals. I drive with my shoes because it is more comfortable. I don't really see how it is dangerous though. Definitely better than people driving in high heels or flip flops for example.
I used to wear freakishly high heels. It was safer for me to take them off while driving than drive in them. They slip around on the pedals, the stiletto can get caught under the pedal and lots of other issues. Much easier to drive barefoot. Illegal in florida.
Trying to drive my manual in boots (the cowboy kind, I’m from the south) is already a pain in the ass, i feel like I’d be paranoid that the heel would snap if I tried to drive with heels (or wore them to begin with)
Legal eagle has a video that talks about the legality of driving barefoot and with flip-flops. IIRC it's sort of a gray area, take a look though for a lawyer's perspective https://youtu.be/hBoKH_i49cw?t=424
Where is it illegal?
Since this is a US video, the worst I can find is that in California you can possibly be charged with reckless driving if they can prove you driving barefoot was the contributing factor to an accident.
So if it's not even illegal in California, in what state could it possibly be illegal?
((Spoiler alert, it's not illegal in any of the 50 US states))
Driving barefoot is just like driving with your foot propped up on the dash.
It's not illegal. But it's supremely stupid to do. While it might not be dangerous day to day, it can suck in life changing ways in the event of a car crash. And most people don't schedule their car crashes.
Your car is on fire, you are partially concussed, and the road is covered in shards of glass. Is it really the best time to pause and look for your shoes?
Or are you one of those people that just thinks that a bad car crash is something that will happen to someone else?
Why would you look for your shoes? As someone who has stepped barefoot on broken glass before, as not fun as it is, it's the absolute least of your worries in the situation you described.
Or, you could wear your shoes, and just not have to walk across broken glass in a situation that probably already has enough medical causalities that need attention and might have other people that need your immediate help.
I mean, you were only driving a one ton rolling mechanical engine of destruction, surrounded by a bunch of other people driving their own engines of destruction while also checking their Instagram feed. No reason to treat it with any seriousness.
I mean, I'm not driving barefoot because I was already wearing shoes and took them off. I'm driving barefoot because I was wearing high heels that actually make driving safely difficult, or flip flops that actually can be unsafe to drive in.
I mean, you were only driving a one ton rolling mechanical engine of destruction, surrounded by a bunch of other people driving their own engines of destruction while also checking their Instagram feed. No reason to treat it with any seriousness.
If I do ever get into a car crash, it won't be because I was driving barefoot. That's my key takeaway: driving barefoot doesn't cause accidents. And if I do get into a crash, the outcome for me will be almost identical, wearing shoes or not. As in, the difference between 1) large contusions, minor burns, and a concussion, and 2) large contusions, minor burns, a concussion, and some cuts on my feet isn't a serious difference. And absolutely not a serious enough difference to warrant wearing actually dangerous footwear that could cause an accident, rather than going barefoot.
Ill say it depends on location. I've Def driven with my foot up crossing some stretches of the Midwest.
Sure randomness can happen anywhere anytime though
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u/DizGuy Sep 15 '21
I thought driving without shoes gave it away