Posted on 12/29/2010 8:50:55 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
McALLEN — Hidalgo County should ban funeral processions, county District Attorney Rene Guerra said Thursday.
A fatal crash during a funeral procession Wednesday has led to questions about the safety of the motorcades, where law enforcement officers guide traffic by blocking intersections. A Hidalgo County Precinct 2 constable’s deputy hit and killed an Alamo woman Wednesday when the deputy’s cruiser “t-boned” the vehicle she was traveling in.
Guerra said he’s been concerned about funeral processions for years now, but Wednesday’s crash has revived the debate and sharpened his concerns.
“I was afraid that what happened yesterday would happen,” he said.
Escorting funeral processions has become increasingly dangerous because there are many careless drivers who disregard the escorts, Guerra said. Processions also require a lot of man power and it’s unclear where the acquired funds should go, he added.
“One of the questions raised earlier was if the constables could keep the money or if they should turn it over to the county, especially when county officials are involved,” he said about the fees funeral homes pay the constables. There is also a debate about whether the money should be considered a donation or a payment, he added.
“It’s a situation that creates a problem for everybody involved in a funeral procession,” Guerra said. “I think that if funeral homes would calculate how much time it takes individuals to get out to the cemeteries after the services, people would be easily buried and everybody would have a chance to attend the funeral (without a procession).”
But the processions he would like to see banned are deeply embedded in the Rio Grande Valley’s culture, said Marc Gonzalez, funeral director for Rivera Funeral Home in McAllen.
“A lot of people are used to following the hearse and having a procession instead of just saying ‘We’ll meet at the church,’” he said. “If they ban escorts, I know it will get some people upset.”
Funeral homes usually contract peace officers, such as police officers and constable’s deputies, for the processions, Gonzalez said, because they are the only ones authorized by law to stop and direct traffic. But funeral homes also have another alternative: private escort companies. Rivera Funeral home usually contracts the service from a local company, except when the family of the deceased requests the constables or other law enforcement agencies, Gonzalez said.
Some funeral homes in bigger cities, like Dallas, have actually stopped offering the services because traffic can become quite heavy, he added.
“Even with escorts … some people out there are just in a rush,” he said. “They won’t slow down or they’ll try to beat the procession.”
Another important issue to consider is how the lines will be drawn if the processions are banned, Gonzalez said.
“What happens when you have a high ranking official who passes away, and here come (city police) and county officials providing an escort, but yet for regular people they can’t have one,” Gonzalez said. “That could be another problem.”
“If you’re going to do it, you’re going to have to do it across the board for everybody.”
Guerra said he understands that many see processions as a way to honor the dead but the issue deserves to be reviewed.
“I’m sure there’s a few who are used to the processions, but I think it’s something we have to look at,” he said. “I think the loss of one life is too many.”
Pharr police have not released the victim’s identity and are still investigating the accident, said Sgt. Santiago Solis. The deputy, who was being treated for non-life threatening injuries, is out of the hospital and the condition of the other driver is unknown, he said.
Investigators are waiting for blood-test results, which are always administered when a fatality is involved, he added.
“It’s all going to depend on the complete investigation and the blood results,” he said. “And if everything comes back clean, most likely there won’t be (any charges filed).”
Police, however, will submit the report to Guerra’s office, and it will make the final decision, Solis said.
But I got to thinking about the processions I've been in - and let me tell you... there is NO WAY on God's green earth I would ever be a motorcycle escort in any procession.
Not with all the oblivious idiots who zip in and out of them and who don't see them going through an intersection.
Thoughts?
> A Hidalgo County Precinct 2 constable’s deputy hit and killed an Alamo woman Wednesday when the deputy’s cruiser “t-boned” the vehicle she was traveling in.
Sounds like the deputy was at fault, not the woman nor the general public. Also sounds like this guy was looking for a reason to be a pr*ck and he just found one. Never let a crisis go to waste.
Get rid of Rene Guerra.
I was guilty of that within the last year. I thought I had gotten in behind a bunch of slow moving morons and passed a couple of them before I saw the tiny little funeral procession signs in their cars. They were p!ssed at me, understandably, but I didn't realize they were in a funeral procession, either.
From my experience, there needs to be a better way of identifying them.
I would not complain if they outlawed these processions. You see them, but you don’t know who is being honored so, what’s the point?
I’ve never actually seen one of these (except after 9/11). Usually I see a hearse w/ everyone following behind with their lights on.
I ALWAYS give them the right of way and I sometimes cry for their loss. Well, okay, I usually do cry when I see one, it breaks my heart.
That personal bereavement doesn't give one the right to break traffic laws.
“Even with escorts … some people out there are just in a rush,” he said. “They won’t slow down or they’ll try to beat the procession.”
So everyone else should be punished.
Locally, processions have the drivers turn on their headlights AND the emergency flashers.
But so what? When a 20 car procession is travelling down a busy city street or roadway... it just don’t work.
But then small town folks are more prone to honor traditions and show respect for the bereaved family.
Would it be safer to have few dozens of grief-stricken mourners make their own individual ways (often on unfamiliar streets) from the church to the cemetery?
“Thoughts?”
Sign of the times. Use to be that people had respect for the dead and their grieving families. Our family would see a procession and say a prayer for the deceased. Today, it’s all “about me”. Zig zag here or there, cut people off, flip them off so you can get to the dry cleaners four minutes earlier than you would if you didn’t. Today’s view: I don’t know any of them so why should I care? I have seen great public respect for processions in smaller towns. Men would take off their hats as the hearse drives by. Processions are to get people there at the same time, as a group, to finish an extremely traumatic day. Just a thought.
IIRC from my youth- the last car in the line had a magnetic sign attached to the left rear side that clearly stated this group was a funeral procession.
My Texas is nuts...let 1st time dwi go free, but stop the
loved ones from on orderly trip to the funeral...way to go.. this world gets more crazy by the second.
Amen.
My thoughts exactly. Ban processions because a deputy causes an accident? What parallel world does this fool live in?
The flags that go on windows would be easy to spot. Like the ones for football teams or put something on an antenna (if there is one) or put a light on the roof-green, small. Start a new tradition. Just make it apparent.
Never blame the individual. Always blame the freedom.
I think a better idea is to have the service. Then announce there will be NO PROCESSION to the cemetary.
Everyone who wants to will meet at the cemetary at XX:00 o’clock for graveside services. And please take your time and obey all traffic laws en route to the cemetary.
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