Illinois Drivers: Is Driving Cars Or Motorcycles Barefoot Legal?

The temperatures as we head into the weekend are warming up, and some serious heat is headed our way next week, so for whatever reason, the topic of driving barefoot or in flip-flops came up this morning among a group of coworkers, with the specific question being "is it legal or illegal in Illinois."

In the interests of full disclosure, I've been driving for more years than I care to count, but I've never gotten behind the wheel without shoes on, or wearing flip-flops, either.

It may have something to do with my dad telling me that driving while wearing flip flops, or sandals, or especially barefoot, would get me ticketed and fined because in addition to being a stupid thing to do, it's totally illegal. It's not like I obeyed every parental commandment, but for some reason I've always followed this one.

So, I decided to get to the bottom of the question: "Was my dad right about driving barefoot or in flip flops being against the law here in Illinois?"

a close up of a police car with its lights on

My Dad Was Usually Right About Things, But In This Particular Case...

He was just plain wrong. Not about it being a bad idea to drive wearing flip flops or barefoot (because it is), but about the legality of doing so, especially here in the state of Illinois.

Let's get to the facts about footwear and operating a motor vehicle in Illinois:

It's not illegal to drive barefoot in Illinois. Period. Full stop.

Not only that, if I asked you to reach out to the state governments of the 49 other states to see which of them have made driving barefoot illegal, you'd come back to me saying that there aren't any. The most I've seen is a general recommendation from a few states that says there are "safety risks" involved with barefoot driving. Driving barefoot is legal in all 50 states.

While we're at it, driving with flip-flops or sandals on is also legal in all states.

a pair of flip flops on the sand

One State Is Cool With Barefooted And Flip Flop Driving, But Not Cool When We're Talking About Motorcycles

And that would be the great state of Alabama. According to 1800LionLaw.com, in Alabama "...operation of a motor vehicle by a driver with bare feet is permitted, the law explicitly prohibits the operation of a motorcycle barefoot, emphasizing the elevated safety risks associated with motorcycling."

The piece goes on to point out that should an accident happen, you could be ticketed for negligent driving, reckless driving, or failure to exercise due care if it's determined that you contributed to the accident due to a lack of footwear.

So go ahead and drive the way you're most comfortable, but let's be careful out there.