Driving barefoot / without shoes....

[coolsats]

Hello friends,
I ve been a silent observer of this website for quite sometime now, and must confess that i ve leart so much from the Gurus here in this forum.
Half of my office time is spent going through the different threads in here
I've just learnt driving and ve been driving for the past 3 months on my newly Suzuki Swift VXI. My problem is that i just cannot drive with shoes on and find it more comfortable without shoes (bare feet with nothing on) and commands better control on the car. Is this normal. Does anybody of u ve similar symptoms of driving without shoes.
According to you guys which is better with or without shoes.
Thanks for all your help in advance...

Regards

[aah78]

I had a friend with the same issue.
Ever since he learned driving, he just couldn't drive with his shoes on. Said he didn't get the proper feel with footwear.
Now, he does drive with footwear - it's just a matter of getting used to.

Try it in a safe and open place. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort. Do your shoe-soles slip off the pedals? If thats the case, then you probably need to get better footwear, or change the rubber on the pedals .

Just make sure you wear shoes and not slippers. Slippers are known to slip-off feet and get stuck under pedals, causing a disastrous condition.

I prefer keeping my shoes on. No slippers though - prefer barefeet than slippers.

[Mayavi]

Just buy better pair of shoes.
I never understood why people drive without footwear. If you can walk with shoes then you can depress the pedals, no?

[rr_zen]

I bet you learnt driving from a driving school. When I learnt driving 14 years back, my stupid driving instructor insisted that I drive bare foot. I was too reluctant but then had to give in. I have to admit it was quite a good experience to drive with bare foot. I felt absolutely at control without shoes and when I started driving on my own I couldnt get over it. It was an arduous task to keep removing foot wear everytime I drove and put them back on when getting down. Finally I vowed that I would get over it. I tried wearing shoes and buckled foot wear like our Bata Quovadis and believe me, within a week got over the habit of shoeless driving...

[1100D]

Shoes increase your Foot width which can be a boon. But driving barefoot on a congested road gets really painful on the left leg (operating the clutch)

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by coolsats

I've just learnt driving and ve been driving for the past 3 months on my newly Suzuki Swift VXI. My problem is that i just cannot drive with shoes on and find it more comfortable without shoes (bare feet with nothing on) and commands better control on the car. Is this normal. Does anybody of u ve similar symptoms of driving without shoes.
According to you guys which is better with or without shoes.
Thanks for all your help in advance...

Its just a matter of getting used to. Since you have learned only three months back, its perfectly understandable.

Many of my friends and family members have this problem. I used to feel nervous while driving with shoes, but am perfectly ok now.

My suggestion is that you should practice driving with shoes, when you are driving in low-traffic conditions (night, holidays etc). After few days, you'll feel a lot better driving with shoes.

One more thing- There is no difference driving with or without shoes. Its just a matter of yourself getting comfortable with the thought of not being able to 'feel' the pedals.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

I use foot wear only when walking. I have this way of [often unobtrusively] removing my feet from foot wear while seated. This means, I rarely, if ever, use shoes.
And there are plenty of people who drive without any footwear; Pujaris, females (high heels are not comfortable for driving), orthodox people driving bare chest to the nearest temple on an early morning ....

The bottom line is that there is no such correct or appropriate answer. Use whatever footwear you are comfortable with.

[bottle]

i find it harder to drive bare foot lol , both my driving instructor and my driver who taught me for a while too insisted i learn with shoes on

[Spinnerr]

Originally Posted by coolsats

Hello friends,
I've just learnt driving and ve been driving for the past 3 months on my newly Suzuki Swift VXI. My problem is that i just cannot drive with shoes on a

Hay, like people of have been suggesting, its all a matter of getting used to the 'driving' part. A couple of months more, we would have you zipping arnd even with hiking boots.

Just a thought, say the footwear you have tried with, does that have a big heel? or does that have a thick bottom? if yes, that is the reason why you feel 'not so confident' with shoes.

For starters, i would suggest, you try riding with those Sports sandles, no those WOODLAND ones with 3 inch thick sole. Something with a FLAT sole and which is very thin. The thinner it is the better. You would get a feel of the pedals with this.

Then try with some shoes with flat bottom, and a sole that is not so thick, something like those slip-on ones. but do not wear oversized ones, they add to your woe.

Try this, it ought 2 work out.

[mainak]

This is exactly the same problem that i faced when i learned driving. Alas I had learned from a driving school. Started offdriving with shoes on an old car with nothing to lose even if I banged it
now driving without shoes ain't possible for me !

[deepak_ms]

Originally Posted by rr_zen

I bet you learnt driving from a driving school. When I learnt driving 14 years back, my stupid driving instructor insisted that I drive bare foot. I was too reluctant but then had to give in. I have to admit it was quite a good experience to drive with bare foot. I felt absolutely at control without shoes and when I started driving on my own I couldnt get over it. It was an arduous task to keep removing foot wear everytime I drove and put them back on when getting down. Finally I vowed that I would get over it. I tried wearing shoes and buckled foot wear like our Bata Quovadis and believe me, within a week got over the habit of shoeless driving...

because of the instructor i drove bare foot.. now i drive bare footed... tried few times but am not able to drive with shoes...

[ad75]

its the driving school instructors who ask people to lern driving bare foot. it does give you a better feel of control but combersome to remove the foot wear every time you drive & put it back on while to get down.

you also have to keep your footwear under the seat or on the passenger side to avoid them getting under the pedals in case of hard braking.

initially try using footwear with thin soles once you are comfortable, use normal ones.it just requires some getting used to.

[mclaren1885]

I guess at the beginning of their journey most drove barefoot. I did too, though you get a good feel of the pedal after a certain period legs begin to hurt. And its tough to go hard on the brakes without footwear. Slowly but steadily (I guess about 1 week) I did start to drive with slippers, shoes and haven't looked back still. However there are occasions when I drive barefoot when my legs get excessively slippery owing to the heat. But Id prefer driving with footwear. Besides, you can do heel toe, left foot braking, go karting, track days, drag racing only if you wear footwear right?

[bruty]

guys my personal experience is that driving with shoes gives a feeling of great control and with shoes the contact area also increase. i have experienced that if you drive with bare foot you have to apply more pressue on break paddle to get the desired breaking effact. More over it will be very tiresome to open teh shoes to drive car and then again wear them

[SRK]

I never drove without my foot wear..
One the 1st day of my driving I wore shoes with huge soles..

I think when driving barefoot..you get to know how much pressure you need to apply..But when you use shoes..you dont feel the pressure..and no feeling to your skin..which means new drivers will press the accelerator more..
Thats what I experienced...

Its better if you use thin sole footwear..
I think F1 drivers too use thin footwear na?