Hi guys. Since it's been warm here I've been driving barefoot more and more, originally due to not wanting to drive in sandals but to be honest I now much prefer to drive like that. It's so nice! The one thing I'm worried about though is the insurance, because I really can't be playing around with potentially invalidating my cover (or worse) if I have a bump. All I can find online is the usual line of how it's not illegal but how you need to wear 'appropriate footwear' and that it might be frowned upon if you have an accident. My own insurance company even has its own 'myths debunked' page, and even that just says that flip-flops are bad and that the driving standards agency doesn't recommend it. The official policy documents somehow give even less information than anywhere else. So has anybody here had any real world experience with it getting noticed when you had an accident, or has anybody come across any sources online? Personally I was looking for people in the same country as me but obviously the forum isn't just for me and anything is still interesting
I believe if you are barefoot enough to fully realize your foot strength and dexterity, you will far exceed your shoe dexterity while driving. It's like driving the steering wheel with hands vs. doing it with boxing gloves. Try using reason with the government or with business monopolies though.
I dunno know about you Brits, but here in the US of A, my insurance agent doesn't ride around with me in my car, staring at my feet. Pretty sure he'd have no idea whether I'm wearing shoes or not. As far as accidents go, I don't think anyone would really even mention that you're barefoot in any kind of police report or anything (unless you were also drunk, or it was particularly cold out or something.) As a single anecdote, back in high school me and a friend got into a minor fender bender. We were both barefoot, didn't even have shoes with us. The cop gave us a little suspicious look, probably mostly because we were high school kids, but didn't say anything about our feet, or write anything about it in his report. So... probably nothing to worry about.
The above video insurance companies who like to pose as government instead of the private companies / citizens they don't stop her. I always call this the myth buster forum cause of all the barefoot myths I bet science could easyly prove barefoot is a better way to drive, On the rare occasions I drive with shoes it feels all awkward , I cant feel the peddles and foot position on them and foot stuck in a rigid shoe the all I got is ankle movement . Used to barefoot driving bending at the ball of foot using toes , shoes on its all in the ankle joint. I believe science easily could prove barefoot is a better way to drive between the ability to feel peddle contact instantly and foot position on peddles and the ability to also toe movement as opposed to just ankle movement to press. I think the myth-busters series is over but how could working car peddles barefoot possibly be hazardous our even more risky then when wearing shoes ? No way. And my insurance would be so much cheaper if they did not spend 10 billion a year to bombard us with annoying repetitive advertisements on TV and everywhere else.
Wow, that video is amazing. She even signals, which many people can't do with four fully functioning limbs! I've always felt that with shoes you can't really feel what's going on, and surely that doesn't help your control. Some of the arguments are quite wrong... "You can't push the brake pedal hard enough!" - Well I've tried slamming on my brakes on a quiet road to check I could - seemed fine to me. "You might pull away if you get a stone on the pedal!" - Have you ever had a stone in your shoe? Is it impossible to get one in the wrong place at the wrong time? And with no shoes you'll probably know if there's one on your foot or the pedal and be able to brush it away long before you need to brake hard. I had a milder version of this the other day when it was nice to be able to scratch an itch. Would have just had to put up with it otherwise. "Wet feet are slippery!" - Wet shoes are okay are they? At least wet feet have more feel to start of with, and they can be wiped off, you know? If I had the option of arguing with the police of insurers, I would ask them to take a ride with me and show them how it's no problem.
Gonna be pretty funny thought when you break down and can't walk on the hot asphalt lol. Can't open the hood, can only sit in the seat waiting for a man with overalls and boots to show up and fix your problems.
Again this is the myth buster forum, Hot asphalt is not a problem for regular bare footers. Even during my stay Palm Springs California 117 degrees I could walk around barefoot just fine. Those tiles by the pool they were hot but the sidewalks and the streets not a problem. We can adapt, I brick layer can work all day bare handed cause he or she adapted, me If I handled 1000 bricks one day my hands would be raw by the end of the that day but before long I could do it no problem.
You know, I've never had any difficulty driving barefoot. (Though I guess there's some places I wouldn't want to have a break down, but I normally have a pair of flip flops in the car for just such an emergency.) I have had an issue with shoes, though. Well, actually, a friend of mine did. Driving home from a banquet that required dressing up (ugh!), his shoe lace got caught around the pedal somehow, and he kind of panicked. Luckily he figured out how to use his OTHER foot to stop the car, but it still startled him pretty good. Funny thing is he would sometimes tease me about why I would want to drive barefoot - this was a good opportunity to explain why!
