People in glass houses...

probably shouldn't be naturists.

I digress. We've had a bit of an interesting debate in our IAM magazine recently. It all started with an associate asking about driving barefoot.

Now most people subscribe to the commonly held belief that driving barefoot is illegal. It's not. It is however an offence to not be in proper control of your vehicle - and if the officer who stops your car thinks that your lack of footwear is a contributing factor in this, then he'll probably give you a ticket.

Personally, I've driven barefoot once or twice - out of necessity - and although it's an interesting experience, and I'm of the opinion it makes your car sympathy a bit better, I wouldn't choose to do it frequently. Admittedly, a couple of times I've done it because I've worn a spectacularly silly pair of shoes to the office, and by the time I've got back to the car, I'm struggling to walk, but one time sticks in my memory for a different reason.

About 6 years ago, not long after I moved to Suffolk, him indoors and myself decided to pay a trip across town to Halfords a large retailer specialising in motoring goods. Off we set with him driving, I tend to let him get on with it when he's around, and went to said shop to buy whatever it was we needed. As we came out, there was an audible crunch, and a rather pained squeal from my unfortunate other half, his back had just gone - spectacularly! Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, he lies on back seat, I get in front and drive - however this day, for some reason unknown to me now, I'd decided to wear my clogs to go shopping - yep, clogs, you know, those wooden things... Off they came, and in I went, barefoot all the way home.

After the discussions in the newsletter, there was a bit more debate about whether other forms of footwear are more sensible or not as the case may be - flip flops for example. Some people are firm advocates of flat soled sensible driving shoes - I'm not. I wish I'd had a pound for every time I've turned up somewhere in my usual work shoes and been met with a barrage of disbelief that I've driven in them. I see it this way - why shouldn't I? I wear them day in and day out, and I'm far more used to the way they feel than some flat sensible shoes.

I always remember back to the days when I was learning to drive. My dad - with a great deal of sense no doubt - used to insist that I took my driving lessons in my trainers so I could "feel the pedals", so dutifully I would change into them before every lesson (I should note at this point that I, unlike many teenagers, didn't live in my trainers - I was firmly attached to my Dr Martin boots) I struggled for weeks with clutch control and the pedals - always using too much, or not enough power. One day, I had a lesson straight from school and forgot said trainers - having to take my lesson in my boots. The transformation was amazing - suddenly everything worked as it should have. My instructor mentioned how much better I was that week and I casually mentioned the slip up with the boots. "I'm not surprised" said he "people always drive better in the shoes they are used to" and at that he made me promise to do that in future.

So now I drive in whatever I have on my feet. Usually. I do draw the line at flappy flip flops - although I have a couple of pairs of tight fitting ones I'm happy to drive in - and I've got a pair of 6in heels that I wouldn't even contemplate driving in (having said that, I can barely walk in them, never mind drive), but other than that, the sky's the limit - I've driven in boots with a 3in heel, flats and wedges, hiking boots and wellies (not a great idea admittedly) and I still agree with my instructor - if you can walk in them, you can drive in them.