Seven transactions you really don't need to do from your car
Having to find a parking spot and then get out of the car can be such a hassle.
While Americans have been pioneers of the wacky drive-thru, here in Australia we have also embraced different ways of using our legs a little less.
Here are some favourite transactions you can make from the driver’s seat – but probably don’t need to.
Withdrawing money
Photo: Bendigo Bank.
While drive-thru ATMs have started to be popular in the UK and the US, they’re still an unusual sight in Australia. The Bendigo Bank branch in Geelong, Victoria was originally a petrol station and when the bank moved in in 1982, they let a drive up window survive the renovations. It’s open 24 hours in case you need to make any late night deposits.
Getting hitched
Photo: Tunnel of Love
Las Vegas is a city known for spontaneous marriages, so where else where would you expect to get a drive-thru wedding? According to The Love Tunnel chapel’s website, it was established in 1991 initially to cater to disabled couples who may have trouble walking down an aisle. What’s more romantic than getting married in Las Vegas, in the front seat of your car?
Buying medication
Photo: Soul Pattinson
A drive-thru pharmacy makes things pretty convenient for regular customers, or people in a rush to cure a headache. In their advertisements Soul Pattinson Pharmacy, located in the centre of Griffith, NSW, stress that it’s much easier to pick up and drop off prescriptions, without getting out of the car. The drive-thru chemist is a rarity in Australia but there are others in Bellambi, Bunbury and Mosman Park.
Returning a book
Photo: Ottawa Citizen.
Don’t want to get a fine for returning a Jane Austen novel late, but also don’t want to get out of your vehicle? The Ottawa Public library in Canada may be onto a solution. The library installed a 24-hour drop-off window in 2005 for library books and DVDs.
Voting
US elections have seen some nifty advances in recent years, including being able to vote from your car. It was even a hit with celebrities at the recent presidential poll with actors, and on-again off-again couple, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth getting papped at a drive-thru voting station. Drive-thru booths were only available in a select number of electorates and were an attempt to get those who complain voting is too hard to turn up and cast their ballot.
Ordering a grande frappucinno
photo: Instagram
The suburbs of western Sydney seem like an atypical location for Australia’s only drive thru Starbucks. The Mt Druitt drive-thru opened in 2007 as an extension of the Westfield mall. That year, a company executive hinted at exploring opening more drive-thru stores, but that has not been realised and the company has closed more than 60 Australian outlets in the past decade, with 23 still open. Starbucks have stores in more than 60 countries and the drive-thrus are hugely popular in the US, but they haven’t made the impact on the Australian coffee market they had hoped for.
Ordering an up-market burger
photo: imgur.
Photo: imgur
This is just about one of the fanciest places you can get a Big Mac from – in Freeport, a small seaside town in the US state of Maine. In a controversial move, McDonalds moved a franchise into a 150-year-old mansion. Planning regulations meant the McDonald’s was forced to maintain the look of the rest of the town, but they were allowed to install a drive thru window on the side of the house. Easy.
