Hello
I was on way to Poland when I was stopped by the police and they fined me €25 for driving barefoot.
Is there a law in Germany that prohibits driving barefoot? They did not accept payment of the fine by card, only by cash and they gave me this receipt where there is no description of the fine.

by Elevator_According

37 comments

  1. Yes, it is not allowed to drive barefoot. You have to wear proper shoes.

  2. I just chatgpt.d this. Nope. It’s legal to drive barefoot and they never take cash. If you have an accident your insurance company might claim this was dangerous and not pay which is ridiculous tbh but you can drive barefoot.

  3. No. That is correct.

    I have seen these receipts and they are official.

    Also it is prohibited to drive without proper footwear. (Because you need to be able to operate the break with full force in an emergency.)

  4. Idk about Germany but in my country it is illegal to drive barefoot…so I’m guessing they’re right about this law !

  9. In Sachsen it is allowed to pay small fines in cash. The receipt looks legit but I wonder if §23 is right paragraph regarding driving barefoot.

  11. Do you were in a private Car? It is not illegal to drive barefoot. but in case of an accident you are screwed up until los of insurance for the accident.

    When it was a businnes related drive, you have to wear propper footwear

  12. §23 StVO is about using a mobile phone or not having lights working properly or a bit secured load.

    There is no rule forbidding to drive barefoot in Germany.

  13. „Description of the fine“ is §23 Straßenverkehrsordnung. Upper left on your receipt.

  14. It’s not forbidden to drive barefoot etc – but if you get into an accident, there is a chance that your insurance won’t pay as you will be deemed partially responsible.

    As for the receipt – it states 23stvo, which (most likely) indicates that you were using a phone while driving.

  17. for normal cars it is not forbidden per se but if you’re driving a truck you have to wear shoes

    also if you wear shoes it’s highly recommended to wear proper shoes and not flimsy like flip flops or something like that

  18. Is it possible they mentioned bare feet but fined you for something else? §23 mainly talks about securing loads and refraining from using electronic devices. It’s unlikely the stopped you for bare feet – how would they know about them?

  19. In Germany, it’s legal to drive barefoot.

    However, many people are under the misconception, including that propagated by driving schools, that it’s illegal. This is based on the fact that it’s simply not smart or good to drive barefoot. Especially if an accident occurs, the question of liability becomes quite tense if one of the people involved was barefoot! The proof lies in the decision of a Higher Regional Court in the city of Celle:

    EN:
    The Higher Regional Court of Celle confirmed this in one of its judgments from 2010 (case no. 322S s46/07). citations from source no. 1

    DE:
    Oberlandesgericht Celle in einem seiner Urteile aus dem Jahr 2010 bestätigt (Az. 322S s46/07). Zitate aus Quelle Nr. 1

    1. https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/barfuss-autofahren/#darf_man_barfuss_ein_auto_fahren_in_deutschland

    2. https://www.adac.de/verkehr/recht/verkehrsvorschriften-deutschland/autofahren-flipflops/

    Regarding your ticket, I would go to the nearest police station and ask questions regarding “authenticity” OR simply wait for a notice of claim by mail and file an objection there.

  20. It’s $514 (€300) and 1/4th of the points on your licence in Australia for no shoes. We are also now fined €700 for touching or using a phone while driving.

    Our government claims our fine are in line with other countries. German fines are cheap to me. I wish I was German sometimes.

  23. How did he know you where driving barefoot? What was the initial stop for ?

  24. Section 23 of the German Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) does not regulate driving barefoot – it neither explicitly prohibits nor permits it.

    Section 23 of the StVO deals with “Other obligations of vehicle drivers” and mainly states that the driver is responsible for ensuring that their vision is not impaired and that they can drive the vehicle safely. The section does not make any specific statements about footwear.

    Driving barefoot is not prohibited in Germany. The only decisive factor is that you are able to operate the vehicle safely. **It could only become problematic if driving barefoot causes an accident and it can be proven that suitable footwear would have prevented the accident.**

    In fact, driving barefoot can actually be safer than driving with unsuitable footwear such as flip-flops, high heels, or shoes that are too big and could get caught on the pedals.

    *This is the original text of the law:* [*https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvo_2013/__23.html*](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvo_2013/__23.html)

    Now, depending on context, the police may have ample room to decide that you were in fact NOT fit to properly control the car. Maybe you acted like a complete monkey? We don’t know that. So please, add some context for us. Thank you.

  25. I bet 25 bucks that OP is talking out of his ass and he was fined for using his mobile phone in a prohibited manner.

  26. Sorry but you can’t be telling the whole story – how did they know you are barefoot..?

  27. i was hit by a car and police didn’t even arrive lol its been a month have not received any information even though i was hit and landed in the hospital.. at the hospital i get a similar piece of paper with only a number on it..I really dont know what to do, theres no phone number on it. I feel bad that i pay taxes for guns instead of basic things like help fight burocracy

  28. It’s illegal to drive barefoot! Why were you barefoot and not wearing shoes?

  30. German here, you are supposed to wear proper footwear. Barefoot, flipflops, high heels are unacceptable. You didn’t got scammed.

  31. Depends also on how good yours and their language skills were. Maybe you get the fine for something else, but they talked to you about the barefoot issue because it is seen as an addition to risk. By §23 StVO barefoot driving is not mentioned. The fine amount will always be the last number in the right corner, so here 25€.

  32. Can we talk about the “Polizei des Freistaates Sachsen” part? Is it just me or does this sound like absolute “Unfug”?

  34. It is not forbidden per se https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/urteile/ BUT in case of an accident you could get blame due to not being able to apply force to the break pedal as you would with shoes.
    Truck drivers though are required to wear appropriate footwear

  35. The ticket says you were fined €25 for a violation of § 23 StVO.

    The amount you were fined is the lowest number on the right. The idea is that the ticket is torn off at the right place to show the fine.

    The violation is the first handwritten entry. § 23 StVO contains a list of regulations about the safe operation of the vehicle, particularly ensuring that loads are secure and you’re not using an electronic device while driving, that kind of thing. It doesn’t mention bare feet, but does vaguely mention ensuring that the load and the people in the vehicle do not impair road safety, which I suppose could be taken to include the driver always being in control of the vehicle.

    As far as I can tell, there is no actual law forbidding barefoot driving, but there are laws about keeping the vehicle under control at all times. From what I can make out, if you were taken to court over this, you would have to somehow prove or demonstrate that you would be able to perform an emergency brake just as well barefoot as if you could wearing shoes — that might not be the case if, for example, your feet were sweaty. Apparently, the Austrian automobile association ÖAMT once conducted a study that showed that it isn’t possible to exert the full amount of pressure quickly enough when driving barefoot. The study suggested that sports shoes (i.e. trainers/sneakers) are the best for driving: in flip-flops or no shoes at all, subjects participating in the study had very little feeling for the pedal at all and some slipped off the pedal entire, losing control of the vehicle. Also, loose shoes like sandals and flip-flops can get caught under a neighbouring pedal, also impairing your ability to keep the vehicle under control. Those wearing high heels couldn’t feel the resistance of the brake pedal and so found it very hard to brake gently.

    Which is to say that if you went to court over this, that study might be quoted as evidence that you weren’t fulfilling your obligation to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle at all times. The German automobile club ADAC suggests that even if it isn’t expressly forbidden, it is highly recommended to avoid driving barefoot.

  37. Wait, why were you driving barefoot in the first place? 😅

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