Cars and high heels

[Isolathor]

A nice topic, worth an own thread?

 

[Chorlini]

I've tried it but I feel like the heel prevents me from braking properly, as I'm used to driving in flats. So I'm used to slamming the whole foot down instead of leaning forward with the ball of the foot. I could probably train for it, but I'm not sure its worth the effort. Or the risk of having an accident. While driving can be fun it's not to be taken lightly.

[Jkrenzer]

She's not actually driving, but i do it all time in 5 heels. It's no issue, manual or automatic. 

[Chorlini]

I'm sure you're used to it. But I only wear heels about the house. Half of the time. Let alone in the car.

[Isolathor]

14 minutes ago, Jkrenzer said:

She's not actually driving 

She is usually wearing flats when driving and might change into heels when leaving the car.

[Cali]

I usually drive in heels. Even for 5-6+ hour trips.  Mostly wedges. I sometimes take my stilettos off when driving for two reasons. 

1.  I have worn a hole in my floor mat and the stiletto can get stuck in it. Not good on the mountainous roads I drive.
2.  It mess up the outside of heel on the shoes. I tend to rest my foot on the back side.  

So I have been known to take a driving wedge with me.

[Pumped]

The last company I worked for I drove a lot. When I left that company my 17 month old vehicle had 80,000 miles on it. I always had a pair of heels with and would wear them often while driving. I would bet, on the average, I drove well over 20,000 miles a year in heels. I am very comfortable with it.

This did come up some time ago nd some thought it was dangerous to do so, but I contend it is like learning anything. At first there maybe some risk, but the risk drops a lot as experience increases. Most of us couldn't walk in heels at some point, but most of us don't even think about it now. Like anything, practice make perfect. My wife has even commented on how natural it is for me to wear heels compared to when I first started.

While driving wearing heels I have been in a couple near collisions, but had zero issues getting my feet to do what was required of them at the time.

[mlroseplant]

I've said this before, I am quite sure, but perhaps there is part of a new audience out there to hear it the second time. I simply do not enjoy driving in heels, especially in my present vehicle. There is something about the angle of the pedals to the floor which I find awkward in heels. I don't feel it's a safety issue, I just don't like it. Oddly enough, my old pickup truck, which is a manual, has not got this problem. I don't really notice whether I'm wearing heels or not while driving this truck. Weird, huh?

[p1ng74]

3 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Oddly enough, my old pickup truck, which is a manual, has not got this problem. I don't really notice whether I'm wearing heels or not while driving this truck. Weird, huh?

It's probably the angle of the pedals.  The lower the car, the more your legs are at a horizontal angle, versus trucks where you are more vertical.  

I love driving in heels.  I like the feeling of really stretching those hamstrings when pushing the clutch all the way in, which gets more extreme the higher the heels.  Like walking and running, I started from 2" and worked my way up slowly, so that I would get used to the incremental height and feel comfortable and safe.  Heels actually make heel-toe shifting easier.  I didn't realize just how accustomed I am to driving in heels until I tried moving my car across the compound the other day with slippers on.  My heel sank 3-4" inches deeper into the floorboard and I found my foot to be at a very uncomfortable angle.  

I race in a rallycross series on weekends and won the championship last year.  I wore my cowboy boots with 3" heels every season.  The only reason I'm not wearing anything higher is unrelated to driving - we have to work the course when we are not racing, and I would rather not run through the mud in my 4" heels.  But driving in them is no problem:

 

 

[SF]

Driving in heels, I do it all the time, no problem.  Like anything else, there is a learning curve to it.  This song by Weird Al, my hero, brings a smile to my face.....  Have fun, be safe.....   sf

 

[pebblesf]

1 hour ago, p1ng74 said:

It's probably the angle of the pedals.  The lower the car, the more your legs are at a horizontal angle, versus trucks where you are more vertical.  

I love driving in heels.  I like the feeling of really stretching those hamstrings when pushing the clutch all the way in, which gets more extreme the higher the heels.  Like walking and running, I started from 2" and worked my way up slowly, so that I would get used to the incremental height and feel comfortable and safe.  Heels actually make heel-toe shifting easier.  I didn't realize just how accustomed I am to driving in heels until I tried moving my car across the compound the other day with slippers on.  My heel sank 3-4" inches deeper into the floorboard and I found my foot to be at a very uncomfortable angle.  

I race in a rallycross series on weekends and won the championship last year.  I wore my cowboy boots with 3" heels every season.  The only reason I'm not wearing anything higher is unrelated to driving - we have to work the course when we are not racing, and I would rather not run through the mud in my 4" heels.  But driving in them is no problem:

 

 

Great boots to look at and drive in for sure...

28 minutes ago, SF said:

Driving in heels, I do it all the time, no problem.  Like anything else, there is a learning curve to it.  This song by Weird Al, my hero, brings a smile to my face.....  Have fun, be safe.....   sf

 

Yeah buddy!

[chesterx]

I drive quite a bit in my heels. Hasn't been a problem for me. The only time I have had a shoe issue while driving was when I was driving in flip flops of all things. I went from the gas to the brake pedal & the damn sole got caught in the carpet & folded in half, preventing me from getting firmly on the brakes. Ended up bumping into a towed trailer in front of me at the light. Didn't hurt the trailer a bit but put a nasty 4 foot long ding in my front cover along with a crack. Wont be doing that again, will stick to my 5" stilettos...

[pebblesf]

On 7/26/2021 at 10:44 PM, chesterx said:

I drive quite a bit in my heels. Hasn't been a problem for me. The only time I have had a shoe issue while driving was when I was driving in flip flops of all things. I went from the gas to the brake pedal & the damn sole got caught in the carpet & folded in half, preventing me from getting firmly on the brakes. Ended up bumping into a towed trailer in front of me at the light. Didn't hurt the trailer a bit but put a nasty 4 foot long ding in my front cover along with a crack. Wont be doing that again, will stick to my 5" stilettos...

Dang, that stinks for sure....I guess it is important that we check our floor mats regularly, something like this could happen to anyone, wearing just about any style of shoe/sneaker/boots....

[Isolathor]

It is also dangerous if your other half is wearing the heels, you may get distracted while driving .....

[Pierre1961]

I use to drive with high heels for years now. Never had any trouble. Automatic car. Just wondering what could the police could say if they were to stop me for any reason? 

It happened 2 or 3 times  to feel uncomfortable in a rented car. Even once I had to take off the right shoe. Too dangerous. Strange positioning of the pedal. 

[Isolathor]

15 minutes ago, Pierre1961 said:

... once I had to take off the right shoe. Too dangerous. Strange positioning of the pedal. 

That can happen, depending on the car/truck.

[Shyheels]

44 minutes ago, Pierre1961 said:

I use to drive with high heels for years now. Never had any trouble. Automatic car. Just wondering what could the police could say if they were to stop me for any reason? 

It happened 2 or 3 times  to feel uncomfortable in a rented car. Even once I had to take off the right shoe. Too dangerous. Strange positioning of the pedal. 

As far as I know it’s not illegal to drive in heels so it wouldn’t be anybody’s business 

[Isolathor]

In Germany the law reads: appropriate shoes must be worn while driving. If your footwear was appropriate or not will be decided by a judge in case of an accident. Many courts ruled that flipflops are inappropriate, but high heels only sometimes.

[at9]

I haven't looked up the relevant documents but in the UK I'm pretty sure there is a requirement to be properly in control of your vehicle. So if you had a serious accident, wearing high heels mignt be part of the evidence.

[p1ng74]

6 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

Just wondering what could the police could say if they were to stop me for any reason? 

I wonder if anyone has been asked to do a field sobriety test while wearing high heels.  I'd want to pass wearing heels lol.  

More generally, if anyone uses high heels as evidence against being in control of my vehicle, I have a youtube channel of me racing and driving thousands of miles in heels that might be counter evidence...

[Isolathor]

2 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

 I have a youtube channel of me racing and driving thousands of miles in heels that might be counter evidence...

In 3" cowboy boots or in 5"stilettos? That might be a difference. 😉

[p1ng74]

1 hour ago, Isolathor said:

In 3" cowboy boots or in 5"stilettos? That might be a difference. 😉

3.5-4" is what I wear.  @spikesmikelet me try some 5" heels and higher when we met and I can't really stand up properly in them lol.  

[pebblesf]

2 hours ago, Isolathor said:

In 3" cowboy boots or in 5"stilettos? That might be a difference. 😉

how about a link to that channel....D

[Pumped]

12 hours ago, Isolathor said:

In Germany the law reads: appropriate shoes must be worn while driving. If your footwear was appropriate or not will be decided by a judge in case of an accident. Many courts ruled that flipflops are inappropriate, but high heels only sometimes.

So high heels woman buy a woman are ok, but if worn by a man not ok?

What are appropriate heels? Who defines appropriate? "Well your honor, the heels go with my skirt, so I believe they are appropriate!"
Really a vague law!

[mlroseplant]

I suppose it's very difficult to write an appropriate law to cover every situation, which is why to my knowledge, no U.S. state has ever written such a thing, with the exception of Alabama, where it is illegal to ride a motorcycle barefoot. I think all of these things would be covered by the vague but way less vague, "Failure to maintain control." So much depends on driver skill and attentiveness. For example, I would still be a better, safer driver than my wife if I were wearing 8 inch pole dancing shoes and she were wearing flat loafers. I'm not being mean, that's just a fact. To be fair, she would be a safer motorbike rider then me, wearing high heels, if we were to ride in Hanoi, Vietnam. That's mainly because I have trouble not thinking/driving like a Westerner in Hanoi traffic, which can get you killed (and nearly did one time).

[VirginHeels]

It’s a explicit law here in the UK that you cannot drive barefoot, or with sandals without a supported heel element that secures the shoe to your foot. Heels are fine.

It’s also illegal to drive without a shirt on as well. Something about how the seat belt can grip clothing better than bare skin.

Women here drive in heels all the time.

[at9]

In the UK the RAC (who ought to know about these things) say that it's urban myth that it's illegal to drive barefoot or in flipflops:

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/road-safety/driving-without-shoes-is-it-illegal/

As far as I can tell, driving shirtless isn't an offence either.

The Highway Code says: "You should ensure that clothing and footwear do not prevent you using the controls in the correct manner"

https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-drivers-and-motorcyclists-before-setting-off.html

Technically the Highway Code is guidance, not law. But if you do something that's against the HWC and have an accident you are likely to have to justify why you went against the recommendations.

[blueparrot]

I now have driven the car in each of three pairs of Jessica Simpson platform clogs, plus a pair of Zara platform booties all six inch heels.  Now I will NOT do so on my motorcycle.  I did try five inch once and it was not fun or easy to shift up in gear.  Four inch heels no such problems and did it all the time.  

[nyenor]

I seem to recall that several years ago down here in Oz that one of the insurance companies tried to find a way of, if an accident occurred with the driver wearing heels, not 'paying out', as the heels were considered unsafe to drive in. Never heard whether they actually bought it in as a condition of payout or not, but as it did not seem to raise any more discussion, I assume the 'idea' was 'dropped'. Always sounded to me to be a typical insurance company way of avoiding paying a claim. 

[Jkrenzer]

53 minutes ago, nyenor said:

Always sounded to me to be a typical insurance company way of avoiding paying a claim. 

This is likely the truest statement. Insurance companies are not in it for the insured, they have only one mind set.

Kinda the same can be said for bankers and lawers too. If you want professional honesty look to doctors, nurses and engineers.