Am i the only one who can only drive in one pair of shoes?,

[hungryhippo90]

Am I?! It wouldn't be so bad if this pair of shoes weren't a pair of sketchers trainers, which I thought looked quite cool for their purpose- I walk and board dogs. So I need something comfy and practical for the day, but here comes the problem.
I caught sight of myself in the mirror last week and thought, gosh I look like I've given up on myself, and I really do. So I thought ah, it's getting cold, must be cape season!! Yes! I'll put on a cape, some leggings, knee high boots, that are just about comfortable enough, and I looked nice! You know like I'd actually thought about what I'd put on that morning,but I couldn't drive in these boots, so I thought I'll drive in flat dolly shoes. I can't drive in them either... so I'll admit it. I ended up in my tatty sketchers the rest of the day, which was beautifully paired with a black cape with a fur collar (faux of course!)

I feel like I'll never look tidy again. Does everyone else drive in their tatty comfy shoes, or is this a new driver type thing?

[Landoni112]

Driving trashes nice shoes at the back, so if you can be disciplined it's a good idea to have driving shoes. (I am far too lazy to do this)

[OatcakeCravings]

I can only drive in one pair of shoes ( I have a stock of 3 unworn pairs in my wardrobe but I'm worried that the shop might discontinue them so might buy some more!), and I can only drive my car. I wear these shoes a lot to work but do change into other shoes is the outfit demands it or in the winter change into boots and the summer sandals.

Its probably a new driver thing, unfortunately I passed my test 3 years ago and, well, I'm still wearing the same shoes so goodness knows how long it is going to take me to get over this!!

[Thumbcat]

Nope. I learnt to drive in the 90s when platforms were having a revival and consequently can drive in anything.

[Bluebolt]

I do not drive in flip flops as a friend crashed whilst I was in the car as her flip flop slipped off and she hit the accelerator instead of brake trying to get in back on. Useless walking in heels so never even tried. I do keep a pair of trainers in car.

[Themoleandcrew]

I drive best barefoot. With my work shoes (which have thick soles) I find I'm really heavy on the brakes. I can't see how driving barefoot can be illegal or affect your insurance. My driving instructor was always barefoot as well.

[IrregularCommentary]

Driving barefoot or in flip flops being illegal is a bit of an urban myth. There are no rules about what footwear you can or can't drive in, you just have to be able to control the car safely.

If you had an accident and your footwear was deemed to be a contributing factor then that could affect your insurance, but in the same way as anything else that stopped you driving safely would be.

[onemouseplace]

I was like this when I first passed - there were a couple of summers I kept trainers in the car and then made myself drive in things like birkies and it was fine. I don't tend to wear heels, so I don't drive in them (plus I would have thought the backs could get ruined anyway.

I don't drive in flip flops though as I know a few people who have had them slip off and had a near miss.

[HoldMeCloserTonyDanza]

I bring loafers in the trunk if I'm going out in high heels. It feels very uncomfortable to drive in them if nothing else.

Bring on driverless cars though. I don't care how many off roading courses or extra lessons you've had, give me a nice well-programmed robot any day of the week.

[Revenant]

I can't even walk in heels, never mind drive in them. I also have to wear old skechers that are worn down a bit. And then walk in new ones until they are ready for driving in! Only been driving for 6 months ish though...

[Polkadotties]

Can drive in all shoes apart from really high heels.
Got in my colleague's car recently and she was driving in bare feet with her feet hovering over the pedals, her heel wasn't on the floor. I felt really unsafe.

[PageStillNotFound404]

I can drive in anything apart from wellies. My preference is driving in flattish, thin-soled well-fitting shoes or boots as you can get a better "feel" back through the pedals and it's generally safer than something likely to slip off like a flip flop, but I can manage perfectly well in high heels, wedges, sandals, trainers etc etc. I don't like driving barefoot as I find it uncomfortable (I have very tender feet thanks to medical issues) but I could do it if I had to.

[Amethyst81]

I thought I was the only one! There are so many shoes I can't drive in its annoying! I do keep my driving shoes in the boot, they are heavy and clumpy and ugly, but I can feel the pedals properly in them. When I can't be arsed I end up wearing my driving shoes and look like as right frump but I just cannot drive in heels or sandals or even ballet pumps.

[mrsvilliers]

Passed in January and have just branched out into different shoes. It's OK! You can do it!!

[Nakatomi]

I can only drive in flats. I always drive to work in trainers and change before I get out the car. I always keep a pair of those ballerina pumps in the glove compartment just in case. My DP finds it hilarious when I turn up to a posh party with him and I have to get out of the car wearing an evening dress and converse so I can change them

[Cocolepew]

I could only drive in a pair of M&S loafers when I was learning. One day I forgot to bring them to change into, I was being picked up at work for my lesson . Driving in my DMs did not go very well at all. (I drove into a ditch )

[fruityb]

Only drive in flats and I always have spares in the car! Used to get mocked for all the spares I had but I wear sandals a lot and can't drive in them as they catch on the floor and fold over.

They say not to drive barefoot as you don't have the same force on the brakes as you do in shoes. I can't do it, I don't feel safe at all! But my friend always drove in her socks and my OH quite often takes his shoes off.

[FadedRed]

Forty years ago (fuck! Where did that go? ) my driver instructor looked at my specially purchased 'driving shoes' ( yes, that's what they were sold as) and said " Are you going to change your shoes every time you drive a car for the rest of your life?". I realised that I had wasted my money ☹️.

I have driven all sorts of vehicles since, from small cars to large vans, even a JCB, in whatever shoes I happened to be wearing at the time.

[limitedperiodonly]

I keep a pair of Tods in my Evoque for when I'm popping to Waitrose

[specialsubject]

Driving in heels was ok when heels meant max 2 inches or so . now that it means fugly staggerers, heels are lethal if used for driving, ditto flip flops. Wellies or even walking boots also a menace as big soles can jam between pedals.

Do us a favour, dont be the most fashionably shod person in the morgue. Or put someone else there due to not wearing reasonable shoes for driving.

As an aside, if you can get a pair of non-joke heels, driving will wreck the backs.

[RaspberryOverloadTheFirst]

I can comfortably drive in heels up to 3". I don't drive in wedges, I find I am less responsive when wearing them.

This was something that interested me in a recent repeat of Mythbusters. They tested driving response when wearing flats, trainers, stilletoes and wedges (and maybe others), and wedges came out very much bottom of the pile. Interestingly, stilletoes were almost as good as normal flats/trainers.

[RaspberryOverloadTheFirst]

While I wear sandals when driving, they are always a style with a strap around the back of the foot to prevent them slipping off. I can't wear flip flops.

My big walking boots have a sole that's too thick to feel the pedals properly, so they're out for driving.

[MackerelOfFact]

I like to drive in flat shoes that are well secured to my feet, ideally with laces.

I had a scary experience once with a pair of flappy shoes that slipped half off my foot and got caught under the brake pedal while I was driving meaning I could move neither my foot nor the pedal, so now I prefer to wear sensible shoes.

As for heels, I don't even like walking in those, let alone driving!

[hungryhippo90]

Ladies, thank you all for the replies, I've had a good chuckle realising I'm not the only one... actually feel like belting out "I'm every woman!!"
So now I'm not feeling half as alien as I did this morning!
I hope to manage to drive a bit better in smarter shoes in the future. I feel too frumpy for my age! X

[HolgerDanske]

To be fair even if I could drive in any of my shoes, I would probably keep one or two pairs exclusively for driving anyway - I would not want to ruin all my shoes...

[OublietteBravo]

I've been driving for 23 years, and I still can't drive in heels. Any flat shoes/boots are fine though.