{"id":10281,"date":"2022-02-16T16:07:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T16:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1380646"},"modified":"2022-02-16T16:07:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T16:07:02","slug":"evs-arent-enough-the-uk-must-slash-drive-throughs-to-save-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=10281","title":{"rendered":"EVs aren\u2019t enough! The UK must slash drive-throughs to save the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drive-throughs<\/a> <\/span>\u2013 services that let people order and collect food and drink without needing to leave their cars \u2013 are designed with convenience in mind. Whether it\u2019s oppressively hot, uncomfortably cold, or we\u2019re just in a hurry, drive-throughs have become very appealing in an era characterised by a desire for <\/span>immediacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the UK<\/a>, where there are around <\/span>2,000 drive-throughs<\/a>, it\u2019s not unusual to see snaking queues of vehicles whose drivers are waiting for their turn to make, pay for, and collect their orders.<\/p>\n

In fact, drive-throughs are on an upward trajectory in the UK. There was a <\/span>41% increase<\/a> <\/span>in the number of drive-throughs between 2015 and 2020, and <\/span>12% of sales<\/a> <\/span>at fast food restaurants and coffee chains were made through their drive-through sites in the year to March 2021: jumping 50% from pre-COVID figures.<\/p>\n

This service has become indispensable for many. Drive-throughs provide benefits for people with mobility challenges as well as those with intensely busy schedules or people wrangling small children. In the US, even some banks and pharmacies offer drive-through options. And by helping customers avoid indoor dining, drive-throughs may have also helped limit the spread of COVID-19. But drive-throughs come at a cost.<\/p>\n

First, drive-throughs require excessive idling, something that is <\/span>banned<\/a> <\/span>on public roads in the UK but regularly and casually done in drive-through queues. In addition to increasing emissions, <\/span>wasting fuel<\/a> <\/span>and <\/span>damaging engines<\/a>, exhaust pipe emissions associated with idling create <\/span>local air pollution<\/a> <\/span>with serious environmental and health consequences.<\/p>\n

Poor air quality is already a widespread problem in the UK where more than two-thirds of local authorities <\/span>breach<\/a> <\/span>air quality targets. Even if we were to meet these targets, the <\/span>Royal College of Physicians<\/a> <\/span>has warned that only a fraction of incidences of air quality-related illnesses \u2013 <\/span>including<\/a> <\/span>lung cancer, asthma attacks, and overall lower life expectancy \u2013 would be prevented. Currently, air pollution leads to <\/span>40,000 deaths<\/a> <\/span>per year in the UK, with annual costs to the NHS of more than \u00a320 billion.<\/p>\n

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<\/i><\/a>Idling in drive-through queues is bad for people and the planet. Image: Prayitnophotography\/Flickr<\/a><\/figcaption>