With summer knocking on our front doors we will be finding ourselves going out more. Taking the kids to the beach or going out to dinner determines the kind of footwear you place on your feet for the day. No this isn’t a fashion post telling you what shoes are hot and what shoes are not, but one to inform you about your choice of shoes and how they can affect your driving.

Driving barefoot

So you’ve got some sand in your toes and the idea of slipping on those sneakers sounds horrible! But getting caught in accident without wearing them could be even worse.

• In manual cars, the clutch may have extra pressure preventing the smooth transition between gears when driving barefoot.
• Shoes distribute pressure evenly throughout the foot, driving with just the weight on the ball of your foot can be stressful to the feet.
• The traction the bottom of your foot provides less grip on the pedals.
• In the event of an accident, more injuries are very likely when driving barefoot because of broken glass or heat reaching the skin while wearing shoes can provide extra protection and injury prevention.

Driving with sandals and flip flops

It’s hot out, and you are most likely wearing sandals. Driving with sandals isn’t exactly harmful but there have been instances where they intervened with the drivers performance getting wedged underneath a gas or break pedal.

• Sandals, like bare feet have less traction and can slip when dry or wet.
• Flip-flops are flexible and can get caught between the pedals.
• Sandals can slip off your feet while driving creating an unclear area of pedals.

Driving with high heels

Ladies, we know that those heels look great, but they may not make your jolting driving will not look to special!

• Imagine your feet jolting up and down on a teeter-totter. Now imagine your car reacting to that. Driving isn’t a playground. Heels will cause the driver to accelerate and break faster and sometimes uncontrollably.
• Heels can get caught under the pedals.
• Some heels have no traction causing the driver to slip and demonstrating the above risk.

Advice

Now you know what to sometimes expect with the type of shoe you wear; now here are some tips to enhance driving performance and footwear.

• For woman wearing heels, try to keep an extra pair of tennis shoes in your car to change into on the ride to and from your destination.
• Keep a towel in your car if your shoes get too slippery after a splash of summer rain or a day at the beach.
• Running in running shoes can also prevent your feet from causing harm to a vehicle, plus you can kill two birds with one stone and get some exercise in!

Have a great week, are you ready for the summer? I know we are!