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Brits need to step into gear as 1 in 10 admit accidents caused by footwear

Brits need to step into gear as 1 in 10 admit accidents caused by footwear
To mark the start of Road Safety Week, the UK's biggest road safety event, a new study by car insurance specialist 1ST CENTRAL has revealed that 11% of British drivers admit to having an accident from driving in inappropriate footwear (e.g. high heels, flip flops or bare feet). The research also revealed that men are more than three times as likely as women (21% compared to 6%) to be involved in an accident from driving in the wrong shoes.
 
Brits are not only clueless when it comes to the rules of the road; they are also knowingly breaking them. Nearly a third of British drivers (28%) wrongly believe driving barefoot is illegal, and of these, 7% didn’t think their insurance would cover them if they did. Despite this, a fifth (20%) owned up to driving barefoot anyway. Similarly, over a quarter of motorists (27%) incorrectly think it’s illegal to drive in high heels, but nearly a third of drivers (29%) said they still drive in them.
 
Britain is a nation of shoe hoarders with half of drivers (50%) keeping shoes in their cars and one in 10 (10%) confessed to keeping four or more pairs kicking about. Of these, half (48%) said they kept spare pairs in their cars to make sure they were safe and comfortable for driving.
 
The most common type of shoe to be left in the car are trainers, with more than half of motorists (56%) keeping a pair stored away. This was followed by wellies (29%) and pumps (21%). The Scottish were found to be the biggest region of wellington boot wearers with two in five (38%) keeping one or more pairs in their boots.   

Andy James, UK CEO of 1ST CENTRAL said: “It’s important to ensure safe driving at all times, even if this involves changing your footwear. Whilst it is not illegal to drive in heels or barefoot, rule 97 of the Highway Code does state that clothing and footwear should not prevent you using the cars’ controls in the correct manner. At 1ST CENTRAL we’d recommend drivers take the necessary precautions to ensure that they can maintain a safe driving environment at all times.”

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