Human feet always sort of confused me. You’d think that, evolutionarily, we’d have adapted to have feet with bony plates or something on their soles, instead of the relatively tender skin we do have. Bare feet seem too delicate for the sort of demands we make of them! Plus, mine always seem to be cold. I suppose that the relative tenderness of human foot soles drove us to develop shoes, and from there more advanced leatherwork and lacing and pumps and innersoles and all that, and from there it’s a short leap to Crocs, then canoes and cars and spacecraft. So, with images of bare feet now in your mind, I’d like to ask you: How do you feel about driving with bare feet?
Interestingly, lots of people seem to think that driving barefoot is illegal. It’s not. There are no laws in any state in America that says driving barefoot is illegal. That doesn’t mean it’s always a great idea, but I generally find the reasons given why barefoot driving is dangerous to be pretty lame; they tend to note that your feet could slip off the pedals, or the pedals may be hot, or that the amount of braking pressure needed will be greater for bare feet.
The problem with all these reasons is that they all seem to be pretty easy to debunk, or at least mitigate. I think there are some shoes that are as likely to slip off a pedal, I’ve yet to encounter blazing hot pedals (they’re always in the shade!), and I think the braking pressure is the same, it’s just perhaps more focused on the ball of your foot instead of being distributed over the whole sole.
I think there are some kinds of shoes – big wooden clogs or stiff leather dress shoes with slippery soles, or flip-flops, for example – that are actually worse for control in a car than bare feet. I don’t drive barefoot often, but I have, sometimes, on summer days where my shoes were soaking wet or something, and there’s an undeniable pleasant sensation about it, I think.
I like the feel of the textures of the rubber pedal cover on my foot, and I think you can get a lot more sensitive in your throttle control barefoot. Sometimes barefoot driving can give you a stronger connection with the car, as you can feel the engine vibrations through the clutch, for example, or tell if your brake rotors are worn on the brake. I’m sure in a wreck it could be worse, and the potential for injury or toe-stubbings is greater, but I don’t know if I buy the idea that barefoot driving actually impairs anything.
What do you think? Is barefoot driving just something for foot fetishists like Quentin Tarantino or is it just something we can all enjoy, happily and safely? Or is it a dangerous, disgusting perversion? You should all discuss and argue about it in the comments, right?
I drive barefoot all the time in the summer. Always have. My feet have never slipped off the peddles. Can’t say the same for driving with shoes. I think you have more control and feel bare foot. Of course in winter in New England it’s tough.
I’ve done it after a long day in flip-flops.
It’s fine.
Then again, I have the aluminum pedals w/ rubber insets……probably wouldn’t be as comfortable w/ the plain black pedals
I’ve only driven barefoot once, coming home from the beach. It felt weird and I don’t think I would do it regularly, but it didn’t feel unsafe or anything either. I sometimes drive in socks going to or from a hiking trail, because driving in heavy hiking boots isn’t what I’d call great.
Since I don’t lick the pedals it is a personal choice Myself I like to wear shoes.
I drive barefoot throughout the year. 3 manuals, no shoes… it just feels better, especially in my Wrangler. It bugs my girlfriend sometimes since I have to practically get dressed every time I step out.
I agree barefoot gets better grip over shoes on a wet gas pedal, but on a small clutch ot brake pedal only getting toes on the surface would make risk of slipping off a higher possibility. Your foot slipping off either a brake or clutch very dangerous.
If I’m wearing flip-flops I think I’m actually more dangerous than if I take them off becuase my foot is more likely to get caught by the flopping. Therefore, I take off the flip-flops and drive barefoot.
I will also take off my hiking boots/other shoes when driving long distances because I just hate wearing shoes in general.
Commuting/off-roading/drives shorter than 2 hours I’ll likely keep the shoes on unless my feet just can’t even that day.
oh, but if I’m driving a car with rubber floor mats, especially if they’re dirty I will most likely never take my shoes/flops off.
Noooooooooooooooooo
It’s like ZERO control with no shoes. Similar to using a sledgehammer without a nice thick pair of leather gloves.
Do none of you animals have driving shoes? Like racing boots but acceptable footwear for the club? Next we will have the demise of driving gloves, really that is what that box is for, damnit, civilization is crumbling around us, as motorists carving a new age of speed and modernity the least we can do is to dress appropriately,
Sorry but if my $2,000 Porsche driving shoes are at the cobblers I refuse to wear cheap substitutes. New Money, what are we going to do with you people?
New money? What tosh, ones driving shoes are not silly fripperies,nor are they a disposable fly by night fashion fad. At the age of driving majority one is measured, checked and found eligible for a pair of driving shoes, these will last a lifetime, as long as you stay in touch with a load of old cobblers.
You’ve been waiting for that setup for a considerable time, haven’t you?
Well done 🙂
I could see myself rocking a pair of Nomex lined Adidas boots:
https://www.motor-spot.com/adidas-daytona-racing-shoes.html
Puma Speedcats baby! Look good, feel good, drive good!
Not a problem in my book. What is a problem though is driving in (very) high heels or in flip-flops.
I prefer driving with shoes, but driving with flip flops feels super dangerous, so they get kicked off. I also not infrequently drive in socks because one of them got a little twisted in my shoe and I can kick a shoe off at a stoplight faster than I can fix my sock.
I’ve never been a fan, but I also don’t like driving in overly stiff shoes, it’s hard to properly heel-toe. I stick to Vans, plenty of feel with those.
I used to know a guy who drove barefoot religiously, and would grip the pedals with his toes, it was very strange.
Funny, I prefer a stiff sole.
I find barefoot driving quite uncomfortable, but preferable to driving with flip flops or shoes that are too big, as those can become dislodged or make it hard to hit the right pedal at the right time. So in a pinch, I certainly wouldn’t borrow shoes in the wrong size.
It also depends a lot on the car and pedals, my wife’s CR-V with its squishy gas and brake are easy to drive barefoot, the heavy clutch and responsive brake on my Boxster not so much.
Both are serviceable due to having full-sleeve rubber pedals, while the machined aluminum pedals of my racing simulator are painful to operate barefoot and might even cut my feet if I attempted to set a hot lap skin-to-metal. Likewise, the rubber-studded pedals of a WRX are very unpleasant barefoot as the rubber knobs really concentrate the pressure on tiny points.
I actually went out of my way to get shoes for the exact purpose of going for a drive without having to put on socks, they’re called Huaraches and are a type of woven leather sandal/shoe hybrid that’s breezy but still mostly enclosed and stays firmly on my foot. They’re my favorite to use in the simulator, and quite stylish to boot. Now I never drive barefoot anymore.
I have no problems driving barefoot, as long as it’s in a car. As a Dutchy I can tell you that driving barefoot on a bicycle can be on the level of standing on a Lego brick.
The problem my wife and kid have is that I remove my shoes while driving, and my keys and phone from my pockets, oh and wallet from my backpocket…
Might as well keep going and just drive naked.
I did it this morning. Dropped my kid off at school. She was late so I walked in with no shoes and signed her in, too.
I don’t do it all the time but it’s healthy to go barefoot sometimes, build some calluses. Turn off your GAF and feel the ground between your toes.
NO SHOES NO SHIRT NO SERVICE
HEY! NO FEET FOR FREE.
(Also, I don’t like driving barefoot. No me gusta. Feels weird, man.)
More interesting than the who, why, and when of driving barefoot is the question of why people who do not approve of it get so DEEPLY upset about it.
I have seen folks get HEATED over this issue.
Like it is not for me but you do you.
I do it all the time!
We get to wear golf shorts at the store in the hot months, so I hop in for the drive home and shed the shoes and socks, straight hillbilly style!
Going farther than that, there is no joy in this world like driving the Jeep, doors off and the top and windshield down, to the lake on a 90 degree day wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of swimming trunks and some sunglasses.
You said it better than me. Where’s the beach?
If you’re me, the closest beach is Lake Erie, about 2 hours north.
If you want a BEACH beach, it’s a 10 hour drive to dirty myrtle.
But hey, in eastern Ohio, at least you’re never farther away than a half hour from a good swimming hole!
We beaches here but the water is cold, it keeps the riff raff away. Plus you get to build rock castles!
reminds me of a good song
“I’m so damn freezing all year
That’s why we make out in cars
Sixty degrees off the pier
Yeah, that made us who we are”
I was up in Erie yesterday.
Were you up there for the eclipse? I got buddies that went up to Ashtabula for it
No had to go pickup a client for work.
I have no dog in this fight, I find it really uncomfortable, but if some people like it, you do you.
I have driven barefoot maybe twice or so, when I was in a place where my shoes got so disgusting that I didn’t want them in the car at all, so they went in a plastic bag in the trunk and I drove straight home
But, for the love of God, people, please stop putting your feet on the dashboard so that your shins fall right across the airbag, that is never OK
I’ve done it a few times here and there, but I feel more comfortable driving with shoes on. I feel like under hard braking the shoe gives me a bit more ability to apply and modulate brake pressure.
When I sim raced I did it in socks because it gave me a better feel for the pedals I had at the time. It weirded people out a bit when I took my shoes off to compete in a sim hot lap competition at a trade show a few years ago, but then I boat raced everyone and set fast time by over a second, at Lime Rock Park.
If I’m driving long distances or wearing flip flops, as others have said, I’m barefootin’.
It’s damn dangerous driving with flip flops on.
Long trips, I want comfort, and that usually means socks or just bare feet if the weather is nice.
Better than than alpine ski boots.
There’d be some serious pedal stomping wearing those.
I live near Clearwater, and I drive in flip flops regularly. So far no issues and I’m talking a decade.
Thin soles FTW.
Those are…not that.
For me it depends on the car. For my Beetle or the manual Civic I used to own, barefoot driving is preferable since those pedals aren’t designed for size 13 shoes. The Civic wasn’t too bad, but the Beetle is hard to drive with shoes on since the pedals are so close together.
Otherwise, I generally prefer driving in my flip flops (which I wear probably 80% of the time – I don’t like shoes). I have never found flip flops to be a safety issue.
During the summer I usually wear flip flops, and I take the right one off while driving. I also do the same with my slip ons in any colder weather. Gym shoes or boots always stay on for convenience’s sake. I like feeling the pedals also, and the soft carpeted floor mats feel nice.
I was specifically taught to drive barefoot, and have rarely done it any other way.