Hi Claire,

Technically, it isn’t illegal in and of itself to drive barefoot in that it’s not covered, specifically, by the Road Traffic Act 1961 (Revised 2017). However, the Road Safety Authority does require that, when you’re taking the driving test, that you wear appropriate footwear, and that bare feet and flip-flops are not allowed. That, it could be argued, establishes a precedent that you have to wear proper shoes to be in full control of the vehicle (the primary worry here is that someone in bare feet can’t hit the brake pedal hard enough in an emergency), and therefore a Garda finding that you’re driving in bare feet could, potentially, decide that you are ‘driving without reasonable consideration.’ It’s something that a lawyer could probably have a field day with in court, but to be honest we’d always recommend you wear comfy, flat, shoes when driving so as to exercise maximum control.