Once you place your order at a drive-through, you're stuck there, no matter how long they take. I realize wasting food is no joke, but so is not respecting a person's time who has clearly chosen the faster way to get their stuff. Perhaps there'd be some kind of policy, like "x minutes or you can pull out with a payment refund".-- kevinthenerd, Nov 11 2017 If the drive-through is actually built like a slow-moving conveyor similar to a car wash, then there could be a mechanism to swivel a "truck" through 45 degrees to allow the car it's carrying to drive off.
This could be controlled by a smartphone app that is enabled after x minutes in the queue.-- 8th of 7, Nov 11 2017 What if they just track the time it takes to fill each order. Have an average time for the last 10 orders displayed next to the intercom box where you place your order. If the wait looks too long, you can skip it before ordering.-- scad mientist, Nov 11 2017 random, halfbakery