DISRESPECT FOR MOURNERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 77, 23 December 1937, Page 6

DISRESPECT FOR MOURNERS

- Prppp Aspoclation.i

Motorists Who "Fly" Past Funeral Processions AUCKLAND CRITICISM

(Bv Telpt"""

AUCKLAND, Last Night. Lack of courtesy on the part of many motor drivers in showing disrespect for mourners by interrupting funeral corteges was the subject of a critical statement issued by the Auckland Funeral Directors' Association The consideration that was once universal among motorists, it was said, had become a thing of the past. "With the advancing times and speeding up of traffic the courtesy of past years usually extended to mourners of deceased persons has almost gone," the statement asserted. "One of the most trying features is the breaking of funeral corteges and truck or car drivers are becoming more and more trying in their endeavours to race as they approach from side streets or take advantage of a gap in the processitm. ' ' Funerals generally travelled at a speed of from 15 to 20 miles an hour, and it was not uncommon to find a car rushing past the hearse at a speed of 40 miles an hour or more. Regardless of courtesy, these drivers must get to theit destination as rapidly as possible. The biggest transgressors were women who "flew" past with cigarettes in their mouths and their heads in the air. Did they xealise the dust, noise and jar to distressed nerves for which they were responsible? "Would it not be simple for drivers to pass a funeral at a reasonable pace and show some slight respect for the departed and consideration for the distressed!" the statement concludes.