If you’re like me, you like to get comfortable when you’re taking a road trip. My wife got a car from our local Nissan dealer and drove cross-country last week to visit some friends. My favorite way to get comfortable is to take off my shoes when I’m driving, but I’ve always wondered if that was even legal.
After worrying about breaking the law, I did some research to find out if I could get a ticket for doing this. I found out that there aren’t any laws against driving barefoot in any of the 50 states of the United States. That is, if you’re driving a car. If you’re operating a motorcycle, every state requires that you wear shoes.
Although it’s not necessarily illegal according to state laws, there are still local ordinances that could get you in trouble. Brian Grisham, an official with the Tennessee Department of Safety, said a driver would need to go through each local ordinance to get a definitive answer. When questioned about the practice of barefoot driving, officials in Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Wyoming and Ohio say it’s not illegal but it is unsafe.
So the choice is yours. You can risk getting in trouble with local ordinances, but most police officers aren’t going to ticket you for barefoot driving if you’re not being reckless or dangerous. For more information, contact your state’s Department of Public Safety and any local offices of the states you plan on driving through.
