To be worried about friend driving in flip flops?

[MargotLovedTom1]

Just that. Friend kindly offered to take my DC out for the afternoon with her DC. I just noticed last minute that she's wearing beach flip flops to drive in. They've gone off and I was left thinking I should've said something, because as far as I'm concerned flip flops are dangerous for driving in and she's got my kid in the car. They're not just popping round the corner either. But wtf could I have said without sounding like a nob?!

Responding to Potato:

Why didn't you put the car in neutral and break with your clutch foot??
Erm, it happened in a matter of seconds and there is no way I could have done that in time.

And why were you pulling out so close to an oncoming vehicle?
Well, the traffic was slowing for red lights ahead of them and there was a gap, which I would have very comfortably made if my flip flop was not stuck under the pedal!!

Just sharing my experience for the benefit of others. Don’t wear flip flops. Simple.

I have never had any footware related issues while driving. I regularly drive wearing flip flops, snow boots, or hiking boots.

I also live very rurally so I am not worried about hitting anyone else......or meeting a police officer.

Crocs always seem fine to me if I have the back strap down.

I never wear shoes that could slide off(ie without at least a back strap) or flip flops to drive though. I also change shoes if the sole of my shoes is too thick as in my walking boots as I can't feel the pedal properly through those so feel like I can't control how much pressure I apply as easily.

I also keep a pair of trainers or slip on shoes in the car in case I am wearing unsuitable shoes for driving. I do know a few people who drive barefoot but I have never tried. I tend to think that the pedal would somehow hurt my foot and I.might not be able to comfortably apply as much pressure to the pedals as with shoes on.

It's illegal here in Brazil. You can get a heavy fine, points and/or a bad telling off from a Brazilian police officer! No one does it, even backless sandals are a big NO. There's a reason for it.

I wear them all the time (not in the UK), including for driving. But I don't have the very thin ones which can get caught and bend (they wouldn't last a week out here, so no point). And I drive an automatic, so far less pedal action anyway

"I have never had any footware related issues while driving."

But a lot of people here have, it's not advised to wear them, and many of the people who HAVE had problems aren't here to tell the tale!

Can't believe people can be so stupid as to say, "I've always been fine, therefore it's okay." I accidentally drove my baby home across a major city without strapping her into a carseat. She was fine. Did I do it again? Of course not!

Also boggled at some of the responses on this thread.

Yes, there are lots of risks in life, but not driving in flip-flops is a very easy risk to eliminate.

I live on the outskirts of a big city with more than it's fair share of unfit and unsafe drivers and some of the worst motorway junctions in the country - I can't control that.

Ensuring my footwear won't hinder my driving - that I can control.

I also live very rurally so I am not worried about hitting anyone else

Yeah, because no one ever had an accident where they hit, say, a tree or a wall...

I had a near death experience yesterday because of a complete arse like you who thought overtaking on a blind corner on a rural road was ok because no one could possibly be coming the other way.

people like that should do us all a favour and drive into a tree.

Well after reading all of these stories and laws in other countries I'm never going to drive in flip flops again! I was obviously wrong earlier when I said that they were safe... Thanks for opening my eyes to the issue

What's dangerous about driving barefoot??

I went out for my driving lesson once in flip-flops and my instructor sent me back in the house to change because it's dangerous. I've never worn them to drive since. It's pretty obvious when you think about it really.

I wear flip flops all summer and have always driven in them, never had any trouble. I would say majority of friends are the same

• OuchLegoHurts Mon 11-Jun-18 10:00:12

Well after reading all of these stories and laws in other countries I'm never going to drive in flip flops again! I was obviously wrong earlier when I said that they were safe... Thanks for opening my eyes to the issue*

I have never driven in flip flops, but I also didn't realise it was a problem before this thread. Thank you to the OP. Hopefully this thread will save some lives.

What's dangerous about driving barefoot??

I don't know or get why people would say this either. I drive a lot barefoot and prefer it.

Barefoot would impact the force used in an emergency stop. Similar to stamping your feet, you are more likely to use much more force with shoes on. Also the pivot of the heel between accelerator and brake is apparently better with flat shoes.

I think the danger of driving barefoot comes about if you need to stop in an emergency - you won't hit the brake as hard as you would if you had decent shoes on and it could impact your stopping time.

It's not illegal but the RAC recommends you don't do it. I think it's one of those things that might be fine 99% of the time, but if you're at fault in an accident and are driving barefoot, you could find yourself in trouble for dangerous driving.

On a side note, is there anything else sexy than a man in flip flops

Less sexy.

I quite like a man in flip flops. Particularly if he’s Spanish, bearded and has a man bun.

I did read about a fatal accident in England where the driver blamed his flip flops for pressing accelerator instead of brake. Difficult to understand but possible, I guess.

However, on the other side of the world, 90 per cent of the driving population manages just fine.

I wear flip flops all summer and have always driven in them, never had any trouble

I’ve never needed my seatbelt therefore it must be safe to drive without one.

aussie road death rate over twice that of the uk, stupid footwear choice might be part of that.

Yes, definitely does not have anything to do with;

• shit roads,
• huge driving distances, its not unusual for people travel 900km in a day from point A to B with no towns in-between but roadside toilets every 300km, obviously you take fuel etc.
• utter fatigue, see point above. I can tell you even with sharing with DH it's bloody tiring driving a straight 300km on fairly crap roads, at high speed (130km/hr limit), mirage effect in the day, lucky to pass one car going the other way every hour. Not much variety with eye spy to keep you alert although they do put trivia signs on the side of the road every 50km in places to try and keep you awake! Stopping at a roadside drop toilet every 300km to wee, stretch legs and change drivers is truly a highlight of a very long day of driving.
• kangaroos jumping out in front of you. You can try and minimise it by having a bull bar, not travelling at dawn/dusk/dark etc but sometimes limited choice if you need to drive for 12hrs to get to the next town. Car going at high speed and kangaroo smashing into the front generally means neither kangaroo or car occupants are winners.
• worse outcomes due to sheer distance. Emergency services take hours to get to accidents in a lot of locations. If you break down or have an accident in certain places you have to wait for air service. Then touch down at a fairly hick hospital that does not have required expertise/facilities to attempt to stabilise and then air life out to a city with equipped hospital. Huge lag times in medical assistance and distance to hospitals with appropriate facilities will affect outcomes, it's not like an ambulance is there within half an hour and blue lighting you quickly to a hospital with a trauma center.

But of course it's all down to wearing thongs..........

I know mn pushes that it is feminine to be pig thick regarding.maths, but the lack of understanding of risk is very scary. the road death rate in many countries is much higher than ours, and ours is bad enough.

dont care if your silly shoes means you crash and kill yourself and your kids, good riddance to poor genes, but dont inflict that choice on the rest of us.

I thought it was illegal and driving barefoot too
It may well be. I hired a car in Spain recently and was wearing flipflops I was informed by the car hire place that it is illegal to wear flips flops driving in Spain. Checked their rules of the road and it is.

I do wear flip flops driving too and I know it probably isn't the safest but I have never had a problem