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For one thing, they're relics of the cheap gas era, when it didn't matter how many miles per gallon your car got, and you didn't care how much you wasted while idling in line.

They also don't make much sense in daily life: are people really so busy they can't stop to eat?

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I would argue we are still in an era of cheap gas. Expensive gas is more like $5 - $7 in the midwest. I'm sure out on the coasts you're pumping up against that already. You're idling for maybe 10 - 15 minutes, so most people don't care.

In my experience a drive through is a dine-out experience. It's not so much we're eating in our car and not stopping, but I'm going to go get fast food to go.

Maybe gas is still cheap (relatively speaking) and so people don't care.

There is, however, a lot of lip service about both energy conservation and healthier lifestyles, and in that context, drive-throughs represent the antithesis of both.

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