Don’t drive in high-heeled shoes

FRANCE’S Supreme Court has put a brake on the hazardous habit of wearing 'unsuitable' high heels at the wheel.

According to a court judgement, wearing heels breaches a rule of France’s highway code, which states that drivers must be able to “execute all necessary manoeuvres conveniently and without delay”.

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

The court heard that the car - which was carrying seven passengers, including five children, in the back seat - was involved in a collision with another vehicle after the driver lost control on a slippery road.

But her €250,000 injury compensation claim from the insurance company of the other motorist was rejected.

Le Figaro reports that she took the insurance company to court and won her case, but an appeal court in Bastia later overturned the ruling.

This decision has now been upheld by the Supreme Court.

Citing the police report, the court said the fact the the woman was wearing high-heeled shoes which had got stuck under the pedals was an aggravating factor in the 2002 crash.

It also noted that, just prior to the collision, the driver was listening to the radio, talking to passengers in the car and smoking a cigarette.