Ticket for Driving Without Shoes

I’m Rahlita Thornton from the Thornton Esquire Law Group, PLLC. Today, I want to share a story with you that happened at least 20 years ago. My family, my mother, my aunt, my sisters, my cousin, we were all driving home. I should say, we were driving to Louisiana, which is where we were from.

Driving Without Shoes

We were driving there for a family trip, and my aunt was driving, but she didn’t like to wear shoes. Actually, I don’t really like to wear shoes either. But anyway, she didn’t have her shoes on while she was driving. And my mother said, “You’re supposed to be wearing your shoes. You need to put your shoes on.”

And so we got stopped by the police. It was dark. And the first thing that my mom said was, “See, I told you that you should’ve had your shoes on. You’re going to get a ticket for not having your shoes on.” My aunt did get out of the car. She had to get out barefoot, but the police didn’t say anything about her not having her shoes on, so she was okay.

Why Does the Law Require Shoes?

That experience has stuck with me and I thought, why would the law require you to wear shoes to drive? It seems to me like you can drive better while being barefoot.

Anyway, I looked up the law on it, and it says that your shoes should be on your feet because if you’re riding around barefoot, your shoes could be underneath your pedals and interfere with your driving. They could interfere with the gas pedal and the brake. And that is the reason why it is illegal to drive barefoot.

I just wanted to share that story with you. I know I must have been a teenager, so that was a long time ago. I probably don’t look like I’m much older than a teenager even now. That was a little joke… Still, keep that in mind when you are driving your vehicle that yes, you can get a traffic ticket for not wearing your shoes when you’re driving in Texas.