Can I pick up items in Mass Effect while in a vehicle?

I decided to get in to Mass Effect, since the series seems rather good.

Currently, I'm on a side-quest, riding a vehicle on some planet. The area has "debris" and "anomally".

When I'm near them, they get the little circle, like any interactive event. But I can't pick em up.

So, what's the point? Do I need ride over them? Or do I just need to go see them and can I then later do something from the ship?

If you haven't changed the default controls, q will allow you to disembark (on the PC) while the (B) button on the XBox-360 handles disembarking on the 360 version.

As Fabian mentions, you need to exit the vehicle to interact with these objects.

With Metgos in particular, be very careful when outside the vehicle! The planet is classified as a level 2 Heat Hazard, which means as soon as you exit the vehicle, heat damage begins to accrue. When the heat damage bar becomes completely full, your squad will rapidly take damage until you die or get out of the heat (by re-entering the Mako or a building).

You need to exit the Mako to interact with any object. You cannot do that from inside the vehicle.