It is illegal to drive in flip flops?

[Whoever]

And could somebody please refer me to any weblinks where there is clarification on this point. Thank you.

[4getmenot]

No, but obviously it is best to wear appropriate footwear

http://www.safermotoring.co.uk/appropriate-foo twear-when-driving.html

[ummmm]

I don't think it's illegal.....just very dangerous so not recommended.

[Rosetta]

Great link 4get.
As well as the safety reason, its a lot more difficult to drive in them.

[jake-the-peg]

I had this conversation with a friend who's a police officer (brief and he's not specialist traffic) but he claimed that it was.

If he's right it would probably come under not being in proper control of the vehicle.

In a quick scan I can't find a specific case of a prosecution

I rather suspect the situation is that you wouln't specifically get charged for it but if you have an accident it might get used as evidence for a charge.

[paraffin]

jake's got it right in a sort of roundabout way.

It is not an offence per se to drive a vehicle whilst wearing flip flops.

However, should you be involved in an accident and it can be proven that, somehow, the flip flops had been to blame, i.e. your flip flops get tangled around the accelerator, you could be found guilty of having been "not in proper control of the vehicle."

A highly unlikely, but still feasible, scenario.

[devilspawn]

so how would you distinguish flip flops from a womans sandals? After all they are the same style but sandals are made from different material - thats all?

I mostly wear sandals in summer and have no problem driving, in fact feel more in control as the sandal has a thinner base and you can feel the pedals better than ..... say my doc martin boots!

So would a woman (or cross dresser!) be fined if wearing sandals?

[Buenchico]

Your question has largely been answered by others but I'll point out that large parts of motoring legislation are based around 'general' offences, rather than specific actions.

For example, there is no law which specifically states that you can't drive on right-hand-side of the road. If the police see you doing it, they (together with the crown Prosecution Service) will have to decide whether your driving qualifies as 'driving without due consideration for other road users', 'driving without due care and attention' or 'dangerous driving'. If, say, they saw a milkman driving his milk float along the right-hand-side of a deserted road, in order to make his deliveries at 5am, they would probably decide that his actions didn't fit into any of those categories, meaning that he was driving perfectly legally.

Similarly there are no specific laws regarding clothing or footwear while driving. If the police found you wearing flip flops they would have to decide (with the assistance of the CPS) whether there was a reasonable chance of a successful prosecution for driving while not in full control of the vehicle. Unless you'd just crashed your car, and told the police "It's all because of these damned flip-flops" they'd almost certainly decide that it would be impossible to obtain a conviction.

Chris