No coffee does sound like a human rights issue.

I've been outfitted with a Gen 1 Iron Man combat suit, and I can't fit through the door. Do they allow evil man-robots in the drive-thru?

oh, when i first read the headline and quote, i thought that it meant something like a Vespa, which would have been stupid...
i don't know how i feel about motorized scooters. they are not allowed on the roadway, and are designed for increased mobility (not decreased)

if he drove there, he should have stayed in his car; if he "walked" (rode the scooter from his house/ public transit dropoff) then i don't know what to say - the scooter should be small enough and maneuverable enough to fit inside a normal doorway (at least, all of the ones i've seen are)

The other day I saw a man on one of those scooters driving in the center turning lane of a 4 lane road. After my initial astonishment, it made me wonder how far those things can actually go before the battery dies. It also made me wonder what it must feel like to be in the suicide lane on a mobility scooter when an 18-wheeler goes by.

This article and the one about the woman and white castle just seem dumb. A waste of time, unless it finally sets the issue to rest.

I can see the wheel chair access thing. Thats all fine and dandy. But the scooters are just, like this gentleman Matthews says, is just too big. I see people on them at the grocery store, and places like target. They are the size of the shopping carts. They don't really belong in a small space.

And again, they are still dangerous because they are meant to assist in walking. You can throw out a car is meant to assist in walking, but wheel chairs and electric mobility scooters don't go much faster than a walking pace, where as a car can go far and fast.

It's not that difficult, if possible, to ask someone in a car to buy you something through the drive thru, or even in his case a patron in the shop. I had a gentleman ride up to me one night on his bike and ask me to buy him something with my order at the drive thru. He gave me cash, I ordered it, gave him his food, he thanked me. Simple enough.

As long as we pass a law saying that none of them can sue no matter what injuries might befall then in using the drive-through window, I'm fine with it. I'm sure the policy is there so that no one in a wheelchair gets his butt run over because some driver didn't notice him. Not to even get into the whole thing about what happens if he spills the coffee all over himself while trying to retrieve it from the window.

His money's green. It's not in their best interest to turn him away. Then again, do they have any liability if some yahoo in an SUV runs him over in their drive thru?

This was probably already addressed in the White Castle story, but I didn't read that one. Sorry.

IF these establishments want to make money and IF they provide a window for people in cars to make a purchase, how difficult would it be to provide a Walk-Up Window in addition to a Drive-Up Window?

Do they only want to sell to people in vehicles?

Sounds like an opportunity for some local business to promote walking or biking and claim some "Green" benefit by discouraging the use of fossil fuel consuming vehicles.

@socalrob: They ARE quite large - it reminds me of when we took the kids to Disney World and it was quite a chore to make sure they stayed out of the paths of those scooters. There are a ton of them there!

It's an insurance liability issue. If the coffee shop let him use the drive-thru and the next car in line ran into him, I'm guessing the insurance policy says they would not cover the loss. That's the reason I was given when my bank wouldn't let me use the drive-thru while I was on roller-blades. :)

Honestly, is it really that bad to let these people use the drive through window? You really don't want them in the store if they're that ginormous, for all the reasons he himself gave. Just let them drive through: these daredevils take their scooters on the roads, let them take the biiiiiig scassssssssry risk of the drive through if they really want to. Seriously, the food is the real risky bit of this whole proposition.

Do you realize how these human rights commissions work in Canada? Tim Hortons would be better off if they sued. At least then they could try to recover legal fees when it is ruled a frivolous lawsuit and could actually face their accuser.

The HRCs in Canada are basically the thought police, with almost no accountability. Ask Ezra Levant or Maclean's magazine who they would rather be up against, an HRC or a court. I have a feeling both would rather deal with a court.

@BZMedia: Well, in an Iron Man combat suit, you can just make your own entrance. Problem solved!

No. The point is that they don't allow ANYONE disabled or not to receive service at the drive thru window for safety reasons. I think if the restaurant portion wasn't ADA compliant (or Canada's equivalent) then that would be a problem. Otherwise there's no case.

@changed my name: When an 18 wheeler goes by me on the road, my heart stops a little! And I'm in 2,000 pounds of steel!

This guy and the ex-stripper who can't get her White Castle should meet, get together, and go rampaging through fast food establishments together...at 35 miles per hour, they'd be the slow lane's Bonnie and Clyde.

I've walked thru a latenight drive thru before, when the doors were locked. Didn't have a problem.

Still, being overlooked is the larger issue which is if a fast food restaurant refuses to server you, THEY'RE DOING YOU A FAVOR! If anyone had a reason to sue it would be the people that got served.

@socalrob: I also feel like motorized scooters, going much faster than anyone walking, or even pushing a cart, could pose a hazard in small spaces such as a fast food restaurant, where there isn't much space for a person to maneuver to avoid one coming. That isn't to say you shouldn't be in one, but if you can't fit, you can't fit.

Besides a fuck you to these businesses and their authoritarian tripped employees that fail to address disabled folks with any concept of equitable compassion, I am sick of these drive up only things: my local Chase Bank branches only have drive thru ATMs, there are multiple Chase ATMs at drive up locations, but not a single walk up ATM anywhere. I like to save a bit of driving & walk when downtown, but no luck for banking.

@oldtaku: It's a liability. Especially for this guy, if he has a piping hot cup of coffee and puts it in his motorized scooter's cupholder, and spills it on himself...who is to say he won't sue because the coffee is too hot and the lid wasn't on properly or it just spilled on him cause he hit a bump in the road.

And then the restaurant will be in trouble because they weren't supposed to serve him through the drive thru window anyway. If they served him through the regular counter, that's one thing - they're allowed to do that. But it's against the rules for them to serve him at the drive thru because they don't consider his scooter a car.

@gStein: Let's not mince words here: the proper term is "scooted" - he scooted to the drive thru.

@HiPwr: Yes, it's a liability and no, it doesn't serve their best interest to serve him - not if it means he may get hit by a car and sue and the restaurant gets in trouble with the law and corporate because they weren't supposed to be serving non-vehicles at the drive thru window in the first place.

"It would take three people to get me in. And I don't even know if I'll be able to turn around when I get inside. And, if I don't run over somebody inside trying to back this up, it would be a small miracle,"

CALL THE STORE AND ASK THEM TO BRING YOUR COFFEE OUT TO YOU!!!
It's Canada for god's sake, they're bred to be nice about things like this.

@HiPwr:

Of course they have liability. If this guy did get his @$$ run over he'd sue claiming negligence. They allowed him to use the same drive-through as people in SUVs knowing there was a chance they could not see him and run his @$$ over.

@Damocles57:

It's not wroth it. Why spend 5-10k (just guessing) knocking another hole in your wall to set up a walk-through window when 1) you take orders at the counter and 2) the number of people in wheelchairs/scooters who probably come in on a daily basis is less than 10.

@wvFrugan:

Umm, you know no one stops you from walking up and using the ATM, right? It's just as good as driving up to one. They're unmanned and no one gives a flying frak what you do.

@wvFrugan: Uh, I don't know about where you live, but down here in Florida ATMs, even drive up ones, aren't technically sophisticated enough to tell if you aren't in a car and you really can just walk over and slide your card in.

These scooters are not "required", they are for assisting someone who still can walk, if he was disabled to the point of not being able to walk, then he would be in a wheelchair, which would definitely fit through the front door and have no trouble maneouvering within the store.

He's just plain lazy and feels entitled to things the way he wants, not the way they should be.

@henwy: Some fast food joints in my area are right off really busy streets, and with traffic whizzing behind you at 45 miles per hour, you really want to get in that turn lane quick and turn into the parking lot - and sometimes that means you end up right near the drive-thru window. If someone doesn't see the guy in the motorized scooter (not being reasonable car level) they might hit the scooter.

And it doesn't even have to be an SUV. Against a motorized scooter, even a Mini Cooper could be deadly.

@wvFrugan: Also, some of the banks have ATMs inside the buildings. Just a suggestion.

@HiPwr: This was a Tim Hortons in Nova Scotia. Odds are, his money wasn't green.

@Matthew Berkhan: Oh no. Our Tim Horton's is serious business. Anything that would slow down our access to Timbits could potentially escalate into thermonuclear war.

Is he genuinely disabled or just fat?

@ngwoo:

@henwy:

Darn blasted HTML whozits. Fine. Asterisks then.

*snicker*

From Nova Scotia...Hello all!

We also had a case of a man on a horse going thru the drive-thru.

[manzer.net]

The Timmie in question has offered to have 3(!) employees help him any time he wants, but buddy thinks that isn't enough, and wants double automatic doors installed.

I am gonna call it, this is guerrilla marketing.

But can I still get a cup of coffee on my Scooty Puff Jr?

@Damocles57: Apparently one of the major reasons they disallow walk up drive through orders, aside from liability of course, is an increased likelihood of robbery

Do they allow pedestrians to utilize the drive through (almost surely not). Wheelchairs are considered pedestrians, I think. (I may be wrong, in which case, pretend this comment doesn't exist).

In that case, there should be no onus on the store to accommodate him in the drive through. However, he should most assuredly be able to use the "walk in" portion of the store - if he can't get in, there's the place to focus his energy

Require a walk up window.

Scooter? I thought they all drove lobster boats there.

haha, he should of done what he said.

Honestly, if a company is trying to send a message out of going green ( recycle those cups or bring in your own mug) then why are you stopping a man who is driving a scooter from not using the drive thru. It is more greener than driving the car.

The policy needs to be changed - especially if you like to drink your coffee at night and the front entrance is closed. Your company policy is going to reject the customer because he isnt driving a car? I remember a few days ago when I went to mcdonalds late at night (yes i know but everything else close by was closed), some guy started walking up to my car while i was in line at the drive thru. I was scared but then he came up and said could you please get me a coffee because they closed the front door. I ended up getting him the coffee.

@Mykie Gunderson: Sorry, tests have confirmed that your Scooty-Puff Jr. would explode into a million pieces.

Come back when you have a Scotty-Puff Senior.

@gStein: Or the doorway should be large enough to accommodate scooters. I don't know how strong Canada's protections for the disabled are, but America's are pretty much the highest standard in the world, so we get pretty used to things like doorways that can accommodate standard wheelchairs down here in the states and we forget that in other countries that isn't always the case. :)

@ugadawg: From the way the story was written, it sounds like it isn't ADA (or equivalent) compliant. "because he can't manoeuvre his scooter through the front door." The scooters don't seem to be any wider than a standard wheelchair so if he can't get it in the door, and he can't get served at the drive thru, it is most definitely discrimination.

@HiPwr: He's Canadian. I think his money's like pink or something.

My cousin tried to walk-thru once and was denied. A person behind him rolled down their window and repeated the order to the employee. Again, Canadians are nice, I am surprised no one offered to do this. I've been told that the reason drive-thrus refuse walkers is that they could stick up the restaurant and run away.

I didn't think scooters were wider than regular wheelchairs. The restaurant offering to have three employees help the customer is a fair option (though I'd just have a worker with a headset walk outside and handle the order).

@Damocles57:
I see your point and it makes sense. But you can still get hurt this way.

In my city we have a In N Out burger that is extremely busy, and dangerous, due to poor design choices. Its old though so take it as you will. Anyhow, they have a walk up window but it crosses paths of the 2 drive through lanes exits. I've been through that drive through and to the walk up window, its dangerous either way. Blind spots for both pedestrians and motorists exiting.

Its safer at night especially to just not serve walk up people. There are places like 7-11 where you can go grab a burrito or something at.