Frozen car at O’ dark thirty? bundled to the brim.
But if dashing about and working up some heat, I still bring a coat but toss it in the back seat.
Since I work at home, I don’t wear much during my commute.
I can’t stand the bulky feeling of a coat around my shoulders and upper arms while I drive. So I generally wear a cape or ruana on all but the coldest of days, and those don’t need to come off. On the coldest days (which, I hasten to add, are nothing like Michigan or Toronto) I would wear the big coat to the car and drop it in the passenger seat. All cold days require gloves, and they stay on as well.
I also nearly always have a pashmina or other scarf/shawl around my neck which stays on all day.
My car is in an unheated garage, and my commute is 10 minutes. So I wear a coat in the car, but the coat isn’t as heavy as I would wear if I were going to be outside.
I was going to mention shopping. I will often not wear a coat, but toss one in the back seat, if I’m going shopping. I’d much rather be a bit cold for the drive and the walk to the door, so that I don’t have to haul a coat around.
Now when it comes to shoes, I keep a pair of pull on cold weather boot in the back seat of my car all winter, and I wear my totally non-cold weather shoes for the drive to the office.
I wear a purple bandana and red speedo in the car driving to work.
Oh wait? you said winter driving? I wear an overcoat over the speedo until the car warm up.
I tend to wear a leather jacket for short hops from my house to car and from car to shopping mall or whatever. Not enough to be outdoors for an extended period but OK for short hops and not too bulk in the car.
I hate wearing my winter coat. If it is above, say, 25 degrees out, I’ll toss it in the backseat and wear a vest, scarf, gloves. If it’s colder than that I may wear it but never on long trips. I hate that uncomfortable feeling.
What lockers? I’ve never seen lockers at a mall…
As for the OP, it depends. I only wear a cold when it’s unbearably cold out (now isn’t that cold yet, so most mornings I wear a fleece hoodie instead) and those days, yeah, I’ll leave the coat on the entire 45 minute drive.
I grew up with a VW micro bus as the family car. Whenever I’m not completely frozen while driving I think it’s a flipping miracle. Childhood PTSD of the freezing kind.
I live in New England and walk to work, so I definitely keep my coat on for my commute in the winter!
Gah. My eyes are tired from computer work all day. I read, “Cold weather diapers --”
I leave my coat on. AND zipped up. (Well, buttoned up.)
Many people here in Montreal, when they’re on public transit, leave their coats on but unzip them so that a piece of their coat is touching my legs if they sit next to me. This irritates me much more than it should.
All the lockers in the malls around here were taken out at least 15 years ago. Too many worries about what someone might leave in them.
Nm