I'm sure this has been covered, but is it actually illegal to drive barefoot? I read somewhere that it wasn't, but my family (my very straight laced family) keeps telling me it's illegal. Just wondering.
It is perfectly legal to drive barefoot in all 50 states, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Marianas
Ask a trooper or police officer when you see one. It may be helpful for a family member to hear it from an officer.
It is actually better to drive barefoot. By doing so you have a better feel of the pedals hence more control of your car. Actually wearing flip flops while driving can be dangerous. If one of your sandals falls off your foot and lands between the brake and the floor, your braking may be seriously compromised. Just remember that when you are stuck in traffic. Go ahead, go for a drive, but take 'em off.
it is an urban myth that driving while barefoot is illegal. also please visit the "society for barefoot living" website www.barefooters.org and you will find out that those "nsnsns" signs are nothing more than urban myths as well. do not allow anti-barefoot bias prevent you from freeing your feet. take care and have a wonderful barefoot day.
Yet another of many imaginary (or phantom) laws. And yes, ask a trooper, or any other officer, but make sure they really know. They probably know the truth, but you never know. Easy enough for them to look it up. And needless to say, I always drive barefoot, even in the winter. More often than not, I have to kick off whatever I'm wearing at the end of a winter day and drive home barefoot if only to air my (snow-melt soaked shoe feet) for the ride home. Upon arriving home I can either make the short distance to the door, or just slip back briefly into the partly dried shoes, sans socks, to get to my door. All according to how bitterly cold it is in the evening.
I have told numerous store employees, or owners, that it is a myth about there being a "state law" or "health department law" on this, and I am right, and I drive the point home. And I win that one. Even the control freaks (my pet peeve) have to back off. What still needs to be settled by all of us here, (if we're willing to do it,) and the bf-hostile world out there, is whether each establishment has the right to deny us service because we are bf. In other words, store policy. The weight of opinion seems NOT to be in our favor. What makes it more difficult is that, as far as I can see, NO ONE ELSE is trying to go barefoot anywhere anymore, sometimes not even at the beach, so I see NO sympathy from the sandaled bystanders in public places whenever I am accosted. So. www.barefooters.org is an immensely useful site and I have learned much from it. But I see no legal or moral support for us against places that make their own laws. Barring a very substantial change in attitude about this from some newer generation, I see no hope of a loosening up in my lifetime. Absolutely ridiculous.
The only thing close to driving barefoot being illegal is that it is illegal to drive a motorcycle barefoot in Alabama (or some other Southern State). And yes, the nsnsns signs have no legal basis, but store owners and managers can unfortunately still kick you out- they just can't arrest or trespass you, unless you give them shit. People should get over it.
cool spruce, i agree that unless there is a profound shift in attitude, we will experience barefoot bias in our lives. it is completely ridiculous the anti-barefoot attitude. everything is fine, if you are wearing those god damn fucking flip flops. i continue to fight my barefoot battle solo. i try not to patronize those places that will not allow me to enter barefoot but, sometimes i do give in and put on flips. that is why i truely admire myranya, boogabaah and seoshreven who live completely barefoot lives. it is interesting to note that in the "land of the free" we experience so many stupid restrictions. however, those that live in other lands do not face such ridiculous bull shit.
i dont lead a perpetually barefoot life because sometimes i just can't so those who can deserve more envy than admiration IMHO (btw i am barefoot from like two months in a streak up to the present time ) on the other hand i would rather fast all day before givin'up in front of some shitty cafe/store owner. i feel it's necessary to stress on this, if they dont let us in unshod then they must not hear the sound of our cash (unless they are the only ones who have that precious medicine your son needs to live) .
there is the catchall "We have the right to refuse service to anyone" and they do as long as it doesn't violate the law ie: race, sex, age etc. . . being barefoot isn't covered
The situation couldn't be more different in the UK. I regularly use a restaurant in a local nature reserve (my fave local bf hiking ground) and i persuaded one of the waitresses to go barefoot because it would help her knee problem (this was about a year ago) and she found that it did and went bf ever since. Recently, a customer complained to the local authority, which owned the reserve and the restaurant, and they sent a health and safety official to investigate. She explained she went bf to help her knee problem and he said thats fine, no problem, and the complaint was officially rejected!
It is not illegal at all. I do it all the time. Espescially after I get off work. The shoes come off before I even get out the front door. Luckily at work I can wear Croc-type shoes and I don't have to wear socks. And on the weekends I'm bare anyway so of course I drive bare.....
i waitressed a while when i was in school. i almost always worked barefoot as i found that it was murder being on my feet for hours on end and wearing shoes. never had any complaints from customers although quite a few guys did seem to take it as an invitation to start chatting me up! i always drove barefoot when i had a car.
The nature reserve i frequent is the one near Barton, where i do occasional voluntary work. Always barefoot, of course! www.watersedgecountrypark.org.
I'm obviously extremely annoyed with those parts of our Freedom, (or "freedom,") and it hurts, because, at my age I've lived here a long time, and I've seen things like this worsening. On the other hand, some thing have loosened (like wider acceptance of shorts in places where it would have been unthinkable, especially for us guys, a couple decades ago.) So I'm left wondering if it's a net gain or loss. Hmmmm. I do always notice, and post about, a preponderance of control freaks these days. I somehow think this is new, but I'm not sure.
On a happier note, and as I may have reported many other times. I drive barefoot all the time, even in winter (since the winter foot wear has to come off and be dried by the heater on the way back to hearth and home.) At any time of the year, I drive almost exclusively with my toes. Great amount of fun. I do some stretches as part of this. Also on a happier note, and possibly for another thread, is that I'm barefoot for over half the year even in this cold climate. My work is outside, on various surfaces, most of which are almost insanely pleasurable to walk on: moss, pine needles, leaves, grass, puddles, brooks, solid rock ledge. When tending one of the moss gardens, bf is now a requirement in my book. While it's far too cold to bf in snow here, except for brief runs out to the truck to retrieve something, I do get some serious snow walking every April, when there is still snow around but the temperatures are warming. I cannot stress enough how incredibly good that granular old snow in the warm spring sun feels. It's almost too much. But I go for all I can get. But this is stuff I have reported in the past, and will again, in future threads. Maybe it's time to put together my gallery---
