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10% of drivers admit inappropriate footwear caused car crash

Published by car insurance specialist 1st Central, the study also revealed that men are more than three times as likely as women (21% compared to 6%) to be involved in an accident from driving in the wrong shoes.

Meanwhile nearly a third of British drivers (28%) wrongly believe driving barefoot is illegal, and of these almost one in 10 (7%) didn’t think their insurance would cover them if they did. Despite this, a fifth (20%) owned up to driving barefoot anyway.

Similarly, over a quarter of motorists (27%) incorrectly think it’s illegal to drive in high heels, but nearly a third of drivers (29%) said they still drive in them.

Meanwhile half of drivers (50%) admit to keeping shoes in their cars and one in 10 (10%) confessed to keeping four or more pairs kicking about. Of these half (48%) said that they kept spare pairs in their cars to make sure that they were safe and comfortable for driving.

The most common type of shoe to be left in the car are trainers, with 56% f motorists keeping a pair stored away. This was followed by wellies (29%) and pumps (21%). The Scottish were found to be the biggest region of wellie wearers with two in five (38%) keeping one or more pairs in their boots.  

Andy James, UK CEO of 1st Central said, “It’s important to ensure safe driving at all times, even if this involves changing your footwear. Whilst it is not illegal to drive in heels or barefoot, rule 97 of the Highway Code does state that clothing and footwear should not prevent you using the cars’ controls in the correct manner. At 1st Central we’d recommend drivers take the necessary precautions to ensure that they can maintain a safe driving environment at all times.”

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.