Flip-flops driver lands €90 fine

GENDARMES in the Haute-Garonne have fined a woman €90 for driving in flip-flops.

The driver, from Toulouse, was stopped for a random roadside check on a departmental road when officers noticed her choice of footwear.

She told local paper La Dépêche du Midi that she thought the officer was joking at first.

Article 412-6 of the French highway code says drivers must be in a position to "execute all necessary manoeuvres conveniently and without delay".

The gendarme issued the fine on the grounds that flip-flops come off too easily and could get jammed under a pedal.

Last year, France's Supreme Court issued a judgment against wearing high heels at the wheel.

In that case, judges decided that a female driver from Corsica should not receive €250,000 in compensations for injuries sustained in a car accident in 2002 because of her choice of footwear.