Originally Posted by
LGHT
Not sure if Utah is on of the 20 or so states that classifies "bikes" as vehicles, but basically it comes down to insurance and liability. If you own the restaurant and "allow" bikes to use the drive-thru and a car runs into a bike there is a good chance that the restaurant could get hit with a lawsuit. Also I doubt most insurance carriers would provide coverage if that happens. So basically there is no win for the restaurant if they allow and condone the use of bikes in the drive-thru, but there however is a huge amount of risk.
You learn something new every day. I thought all states considered bikes vehicles. I looked at the League of American Bicyclists web site and it looks like those that don't say that a person riding a bike has all the rights and duties of the driver of a vehicle. That's a pretty subtle difference. I wonder how much it matters in the grand scheme of thing.
As for drive thrus, I don't stop at places during normal hours unless they have a rack. Late night, I'm sleeping, so It doesn't matter to me.