How Does Your Shoes Affect your Driving?

By Melvin Magadia for Automart.PH

Wearing the right shoes when driving a motor vehicle is often overlooked by most drivers. Most would prefer wearing house slippers or flip flops. While it may be comfortable for your feet, have you ever considered that wearing the right footwear can help ensure that you will safely arrive at your destination?

When driving, you need to keep in mind that your feet control the speed and any slight difference in pedal pressure or delays in response can have a tremendous response on your vehicle. Wearing the right driving shoes allows you to feel and modulate the pedals of your vehicle to accelerate and brake as efficiently as possible. Wearing the wrong shoes puts yourself and others at risk. You could be stopped by policemen for reckless driving.

With that in mind, let us now look at the wrong and right shoes for driving.

What Are The Shoes To Avoid?

These are the footwear you should avoid when driving your vehicle.

Flip Flops

Flip flops reduce the average reaction time to fully engage the brakes by 0.13 seconds. If you are running at 60 miles per hour, this would mean traveling an additional 10 feet before coming to a stop. So leave your flip flops for wading at the beach.

High Heels

Flip flops are actually considered more dangerous than high heels when driving. But it isn’t safe to use either. High heels lack the stability the actual heel provides. It cannot rest on the floor evenly, which increases the risk of your foot slipping off the pedal.

Work or Hiking Boots

Although work and hiking boots are stiff enough to protect your feet and ankles from injury, they do not allow you to get an accurate feel of the accelerator or brake pedal. They are also wider than other shoes making it difficult to apply pressure on one pedal without touching the other.

What Are The Best Shoes For Driving?

The best driving shoes should be able to make your feet feel the pedals. Experts recommend wearing secure shoes while driving.  The sole of the shoes should neither be too thick or too thin. At the same time, it should not also be too soft or too flexible and should have enough grip on the pedal to avoid slipping. The best driving shoes should have the following characteristics:

• Lightweight to enable easy movement
• Should not impede ankle movement in working various pedals
• Should not be wide to avoid stepping on two pedals at the same time
• Tight fit to stay on your feel
• Wide heel surface to pivot the foot steadily

Driving entail quick reaction and efficient pedaling and braking. Wearing the right shoes will help you reach your destination safely.

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