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.
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.
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.
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 was on a freeway and a very long procession was taking up the slow lane. It was a mess because nobody could break through and take the exits. The middle lane skidded to a halt. In all the mayhem, I missed my exit and had to drive to the next one and make a u-turn, not a short distance. Not a great big deal since I’m still alive to tell about it, but the situation could have resulted in accidents.
It’s one thing on back roads, but processions on major roads is a hazard.
I was on a freeway and a very long procession was taking up the slow lane. It was a mess because nobody could break through and take the exits. The middle lane skidded to a halt. In all the mayhem, I missed my exit and had to drive to the next one and make a u-turn, not a short distance. Not a great big deal since I’m still alive to tell about it, but the situation could have resulted in accidents.
It’s one thing on back roads, but processions on major roads is a hazard.
The DA who wants to ban these funeral processions must not travel outside of his home county. Funeral processions take place in almost every city in the US everyday with some minor exceptions. These processions are a staple of American life and indeed processions of some type are used in most every culture in the world.
What I take from this article is the increasing lack of respect and manners, not only for the dead, but for the living who are mourning/honoring the deceased, as well as for the authorities (uniformed, undertakers and clergy) who are trying to provide a service to the community.
My first thought: Why don’t people just crawl in a hole and not move or interact with each other. Think of the infections. Think of RISK. Think of the RISKS when you just celebrate another’s life.
Everytime people go anywhere, do something, there is a risk to life. Then again, they can just die in home, in bed. Hmmmmm. I remember a person who was in a car stopped at a red light, and a limb of a tree fell down and killed him. What were the odds of that???
Deaths happens. Then again, life happens. Is there a God or not? The responsibility for life should be up to the individual in a free society. The more government interferes with rules and regulations and threats, the more people expect safety, so they let down caution......I think the autobahn is an example of that principle.
People are more responsible for their lives when they don’t assume government and rules are there to protect them. Take the people who don’t own guns because of the police force. Think of the people who aren’t cautious at intersections because of a green light and get killed because of someone running a red. It seems that happens quite a lot actually—to my father-in-law anyway.
Life is a risk. Some people have a lot of “luck”, some people have none. That is life.
The one thing I have observed—is more nanny state rules and regulations, the less free and the more at risk everyone it. Think of how everyone assumed dog food was safe because we have the FDA and lost their pets. Are you really so sure of the safety of our food supply because of the FDA? I’m not. Wouldn’t trust them at all when they allowed melamine in baby formula. What else do people not know.
We really have to get back to the original intent of the Constitution. People should all be responsible for themselves and government should be doing what it was designed for—protect property rights (laugh) and protect borders (laughing even harder). And our populous has got to grow up and be responsible for themselves and not expect government to hold their hand as they cross a street so they don’t get hit by a car.
I don’t agree with Mr. Guerra, but I think he makes some valid points. I’ve always thought it a troubling conflict of interest that private parties can hire peace officers in their official capacities for private events.
For example, why should a uniformed Dallas police officer be empowered to stop traffic on Monfort Drive to let bank customers have reasonable access to the thoroughfare when the bank should bear the cost of having to move locations? I have had to wait for considerable periods and been more than a little inconvenienced by such arrangments.
I think the official justification is that the city’s allowing a police officer to “work security” is much cheaper than installing a traffic light, but that is really a dodge. It ends up rewarding a stupid decision by bank management and appropriating the time of motorists who aren’t bank customers - this without just compensation.
I’m really adamant about not granting police powers to private individuals or interests. There is just too much potential for abuse.
But I have missed appointments in order to stop for funeral processions. Under the circumstances, I don’t mind. I figure it’s the least I can do for the grieving friends and family members. Do unto others and all that...
Seems to me a safety toss-up. Is it more dangerous to have a funeral procession, or to have 80-year-old Uncle Frank and Aunt Bertha driving around lost, looking for the cemetery?