Ban the Drive-Thru--save a polar bear?

Mike Ivey: Should Madison ban the drive-through?
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/293046
Mike Ivey — 6/25/2008 11:37 am

A member of the influential Madison Plan Commission wants to ban the restaurant drive-through -- or at least restrict the ubiquitous symbol of America's auto-centric lifestyle.

"Given the concern about all the carbon going into the atmosphere, I'm not sure we should be building more places for people to sit idling in their cars," says Eric Sundquist, who was appointed to the citizen panel by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz this spring.

Why don't they ban traffic jams? Do it for the drowning polar bears!

I never cared for drive thrus until I had kids sleeping in the car that I did not want to wake up by stopping the carand getting them out. Screw the bears.

I love the drive-thru!

Still, I can't help but wonder if being able to order, pay for, and receive a $5 2500 or more calorie meal isn't playing some role in America's weight problem.

We don't eat fast food very often.....probably once a month on average. But......we are the exception not the rule.

Stephanie,

Burger King became our friend when our daughter was sick and 90 miles away, and the thought of getting our kids out of the car after they started napping was not one that we cherished.

I agree that fast food is by and large a culprit. In the words of Joel Gray's character from Remo Williams (best movie ever), "they call it fast food because it speeds you to the grave." The issue is whether the gov't (the same one that would arrest me for leaving my sleeping kids in the car, even if locked) should be able to take away my ability to poison myself if I so desire.

I don't think the government should interfer with what we eat. I do think given all the issues associated with fossil fuels, we may need to rethink our love of the drive-thru.

I'm reconsidering it myself. Although, with no Dunkin Donuts and few Tim Horton's in the area, I don't frequent them the way I did in New England any way. It's so difficult to get iced coffee here. McDonald's now offers it so I have been visiting them with greater frequency. BK's iced coffee is pre-sweetened, and I'm sweet enough! lol

I think it would be good for our society to rethink our love for fast food, large cars, cheap sex, mindless television, and road rage; however, I think we agree that people need to be making those choices rather than governments.

I think that starting and stopping a car uses about as much gas as 10 minutes of idling. Anyone have any figures on that comparison?

I don't know anything about cars. I have had the internal combustion engine explained to me using every prop available and it is beyond my comprehension, so take this for what it's worth.

I have heard that because of fuel injection systems a car will use more gas idling in less than a minute than turning it off and on again.

With most all vehicles now having "high performance" engines that are computer/sensor controlled ....... I don't believed very much gas is "wasted" when stopping and restarting the engine.

Now back in the "old days" of mechanical fuel pumps, carburator chokes, etc., ....... not so ..... unless they were "fine tuned".