We’ve had drive-in movies, drive-in churches, drive-up...

We’ve had drive-in movies, drive-in churches, drive-up banks and drive-through grocery stores.

So, it was only a matter of time before we got--what else?--drive-by centers for vehicle registration.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles plans to open a drive-by window in September and, if successful, the DMV will open similar booths statewide.

A bulletproof, air-conditioned kiosk is scheduled to be constructed in the parking lot of the DMV’s Van Nuys office, according to Malcolm Smith, the agency’s Los Angeles area manager who thought up the idea.

Up to 200 drivers a day are expected to zip in to get their vehicle registration renewed and pick up driving test manuals. They will still have to go inside the office to take written tests to obtain a driver’s license or transfer title on their cars.

The booth is expected to cut down on the congestion and lines inside the DMV office.

But what about the congestion from all those drivers lined up at the booth?

So now that we have drive-in car registration, how about drive-in birthday parties?

Jeffery Lewis, a Los Angeles Municipal Court clerk, decided to give his wife, Wanda, a 28th birthday surprise this past weekend.

So, Lewis borrowed and decorated a 18-wheeler flatbed truck, parked it on an Altadena hillside with a romantic view and catered a vegetarian dinner for 30 guests.

He had some experience in such events, having done something similar when he asked Wanda, a pharmaceutical technician, to marry him three years ago. That time, he set up a candlelight dinner for two in a friend’s hilltop house, hired a violinist and even had the moment videotaped. For their anniversary this year, he wrote her a poem and then had it copyrighted.

To get ready for Sunday’s birthday party took more elaborate planning. Lewis spent several days looking for just the right spot. He got permission from local authorities to park the truck on the street, and even went door to door to let the neighbors know what he was going to do. “They thought it was terribly romantic,” he said.

At the appointed time, Lewis blindfolded Wanda and took her to the party.

“It was wonderful,” she said. “He is always surprising me like that. He says he does it because I inspire him.”

In a more sober vein, scores of Los Angeles mothers took to the highway this week in a cross-country campaign to discourage drinking and driving over the Labor Day weekend.

The “Drive for Life” caravan, put together by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Volkswagen United States, will make rally stops at six cities before arriving in Washington on Sept. 1.

During a downtown Los Angeles rally last week, hundreds of people signed petitions vowing to drive sober.

MickySadoff, MADD president, said that drunken drivers kill more than 23,000 people a year and injure an additional 560,000. She noted that on “Drive for Life” day last year, alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped 28%, compared to the same day the previous year.

“While we’re encouraged by this reduction,” she said, “we still have a long way to go.”