Do you have to wear shoes when driving?
So it’s summer holiday time again. Which, in the best Kiwi way, means ditching the shoes for either the jandals or good old bare feet.
But let’s just ponder that for a second – is it safe to drive while wearing jandals or barefoot? Or, more to the point, is it legal to drive while wearing jandals or with no footwear at all?
The quick answer is of course it’s not illegal. You are allowed to drive a vehicle wearing just about anything on your feet. Which is a bit worrying when you really think about it...
However, driving in jandals certainly isn’t condoned (and is actively frowned upon) by the police and the Automobile Association, because it can be dangerous.
And it can be particularly dangerous if the weather is wet as it drastically increases the potential for your feet to slip off the pedals.
But while it isn’t actually illegal to drive while wearing jandals (or high heels, or gumboots, or even clogs, if that’s your thing) remember this one particular piece of information – the police can charge a driver with ‘‘careless driving’’, a broad, catchall charge that could be made to fit pretty much any occasion.
The law says it is illegal to drive a vehicle in an unsafe manner, and while the proverbial jury remains out as to whether wearing a pair of jandals or being barefoot could constitute ‘‘unsafe’’, if the police suspect it contributed to any resulting incident, then you could well be charged.
But which is safer? Well, it’s the obvious choice – bare feet. Road safety experts agree that if you are wearing jandals, it’s safer to slip them off and drive barefoot. So just do that.
After all, it was good enough for New Zealand’s only Formula 1 world champion, Denny Hulme, who used to – in his early days –
barefoot. Although that certainly wouldn’t be allowed today.
But, while it is much safer to drive barefoot rather than wearing jandals, wearing a decent pair of shoes with treaded soles while operating your vehicle is still the safest option.
And what about motorcycles? The same thing applies. While you must wear a helmet while riding, it’s not illegal to ride in bare feet. Although the skin crawls with the thought of what could happen to a bunch of toes coming in to high-speed contact with the road.
So – shoes, bare feet or jandals? According to road safety experts (and, let’s face it, common sense) the answer is exactly in that order. With jandals a long way behind.