Flip Flop Rider

Welcome to a zero tolerance policy, and the problem with it. Would it have hurt for them to serve you a cone through the window, no, but I'm betting they instituted that policy (cars only!) in response to maybe intoxicated or homeless people trying to order through the window (or something else). So, hence the policy.

I'm curious where you live, in that you had one bike stolen recently, and was weary of having another stolen. Maybe I'm naive, but we're talking U.S. right?

pdlamb

I ran into that at a Whopper Flopper (aka Burger King). I walked the bike inside. They gave me some dirty looks (matched the dirty bike), but nobody said anything since they'd just told me I couldn't order at the drive through.

kevindsingleton 

An excuse, for what, though?

Flinstone

Hypersensitive? Yes and no. Blame lawyers. Yes it's crazy and irritating. No it's not the employees fault or the store's fault. No, you can't take responsibility for yourself. For better or worse, those days are gone and most people like it that way,.. while they walk around with their head burried in their phone.

kevindsingleton 

I haven't been there. That would have been a long ride for my old mare! I lived east of Dallas, in Mesquite.

fietsbob

You missed a Bout of Mickey D induced food Poisoning..


Buy your Icecream else where*..(F MickeyD!) Bring a Lock, next time , walk in the door.

Tillamook is Better ..

indyfabz

As mentioned in at least one previous post, there has been discussion of this issue before. At one point there was proposed in one state a law that freed up owners to ban non-motorized vehicles from drive-thru windows. IIRC, there was a big ado in a thread in A&S when someone interpreted what they read as a state ban on bikes at drive-thru widows, which it wasn't. Here is one old thread that mentions the safety issues involved:

https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...rive-thru.html

Another thread on the subject, but I cannot find the one referred to above:

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...ve-thru-s.html

indyfabz

It's not an excuse for anything. It would make no sense to drive away business (pun intended). Just because an insurance company doesn't have a problem with something doesn't mean there is not a heightened risk. People on foot and on bikes can get closer to the window, which can make robberies and assaults easier. And, of course, there is the increased potential for accident injuries. You want to decrease risk so you don't have to rely on insurance. Would you be willing to do something risky in your house that might cause it to catch fire is you knew your insurance company would cover the loss?

kevindsingleton 

Oh. I guess I misunderstood Prathmann, when he said, "The insurance/liability claim appeared to just be used as an excuse."

I doubt that the couple of inches closer to the window I can get on my bike is a major component of this argument. After all, they let people walk in the door!

Catch fire? You mean something like cooking over a hot stove? In a restaurant? Heaven forbid!

There is no good reason to deny service to a cyclist in a drive-thru. No good reason.

KD5NRH

Wonder what they'd do about a velomobile.

After all, you can't really tell from looking at it whether there's a motor under the shell.

I-Like-To-Bike

To discourage smug whiners with a sense of entitlement, as well as food snobs on bicycles from darkening their drive-in window?

KD5NRH

But people walking can't get away at 12mph so easily.

KD5NRH

McD's and Whataburger used to be quite popular with the police right after bar close due to the number of drunk drivers the drive through would report. Each was right next to a different bar, and at least a couple times a month they'd have to have a passed out driver removed from the line to get things moving again.

indyfabz

You can get much closer to the window on foot. Ever see videos of people assaulting workers? They are usually not in their cars. And it's much harder to stick a gun in someone's face from a car window. How do you grab cash from the register from the seat of a car.

Would you start a campfire in your living room? Leave unattended candles burning on Christmas tree?

And what happens when that drunk pulls into the drive through and rear ends a cyclists? Law suit against the place.

Anyone who truly understand risk management know that there are numerous reasons to ban bike and peds from drive-thru windows. The risk is not worth the few extra Happy Meals that would sold.

Cyclist0084

Yep, did that on a ride a couple of weeks ago. Stood in line with my bike and after I got my cone, went and sat down on one of their many outside benches and rested and relaxed for about 10 minutes.

I did go thru a McD's drive thru on my bike once, but that was 35 years ago and I also worked there, so they knew me.

kevindsingleton 

You can go inside and do any of that, and they're not restricting that access, at all. I'm pretty sure that's not the concern, or they'd lock those door-shaped objects in the walls. Have you ever seen a video of a cyclist assaulting fast-food workers in the drive-thru window? Ever?

Probably not. Was the OP's bicycle on fire? How is this even approaching relevance to this discussion?

"Dismissed lawsuit against the place", you mean. Do I get to sue McDonald's when a drunk driver rear ends me in the LBS parking lot? That would make the same amount of sense.

If the goal is to remove all risk in drive-thrus, the obvious solution is to ban motor vehicles. They're causing more damage and injury than all the cyclists, combined.

Still, not a good reason to deny service to a cyclist in the drive-thru.

Milton Keynes

About the only thing I get there any more is an unsweetened ice tea. My body can't afford any of their frozen treats, though tasty they might be.

Milton Keynes

Always opt for the diet soda. That will cut out all the calories.

trailangel

I like DQ better. I love OR.

jefnvk

Not after a certain point of night. And yes, the mobility I have outside of a window in a vehicle is greatly reduced compared to what I would have just standing there.

I mentioned earlier, but I have been denied service on a motorcycle, and I've been asked not to come through again with trailers on a vehicle. A motor isn't a guarantee of being served.

Cyclist assaulting someone through a drive thru window specifically? No. People being assaulted through a drive thru window? All the time. People out of cars can get much better access to the inside than people in vehicles. Simply type "drive thru window assault" into YouTube if you don't believe me.

If your LBS operated a business built on serving customers in cars in a forced line, I'd agree there would be a similarity. Until McDonalds bans your bike from being in the parking lot, your analogy is faulty.

The goal is to eliminate foreseeable risk to injury on the premises. There is little danger of serious injury when two cars hit one another. There is much danger of serious injury when the person behind your bike's foot slips off the brake, and runs you into the back of the van in front of you.

And, as mentioned, there are plenty of good options besides what many of us can see as a potential safety issue. Unless you are deliberately being argumentative, there have been many good solutions listed that are perfectly acceptable to anyone being reasonable.

Wilfred Laurier

The operating room? Off road? Oregon?

Gweedo1

As has been mentioned, it's a safety issue, as in a safety policy to protect workers from attack and ingress by criminals after hours, "drive through" windows being large enough to do either. One can't easily attack a worker through a drive through window from his car, nor could one easily get through the window from his car. DQ windows are "walk-up" windows, much smaller. I don't have a problem with that policy. Keeping workers safe is paramount, not "rider's rights".

I too ride without a lock and if I stop, I pick places where it's safe to leave the bike unattended for a few minutes, but within sight. No bigs.

trailangel

I love those DQs in Oregon!

Wilfred Laurier

Be careful if you have to ride off road through Oregon - you might end up in the operating room!

KD5NRH

That one actually makes sense in a lot of places, though; drive through lanes are usually narrow with one or more tight turns. Easy to do some damage navigating twice as much vehicle as they're designed for through there.