Driver who cut into funeral procession needs to get a clue

What do you think about this?

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If it were, perhaps, another time and I was, perhaps, another person, I would have made a citizen’s arrest.

Yep, I would have followed the motorist who cut sharply in front of the car ahead of mine to his home and issued him some sort of violation for crimes against humanity.

“You are hereby summoned to court for being an extra special (insert choice word here),” the charge would have read.

But because I am who I am and I was in a funeral procession in the Cincinnati area, I continued on to the cemetery. I shook my head and griped the whole way. “Did you see that guy,” I said. “People have no respect.”

The man’s actions showed a lack of common decency, a lack of compassion.

More importantly, he almost caused an accident.

This was not the first time I’ve wanted to make a citizen’s arrest of a funeral procession intruder.

Working so close to Woodland Cemetery — the resting place of the Wright Brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Erma Bombeck and plenty of other Daytonians who have helped shape the city — I have seen motorists who have nearly crashed into mourners proceeding through intersections before.

That type of crash is not tracked, but Dayton police Lt. Larry Faulkner said there are a number of accidents each year involving funeral processions.

You don’t legally have to pull over to the side of the road for a funeral procession — that’s a Midwest thing — but Faulkner said you do have to yield to funeral processions at intersections.

“People are not paying attention,” he said. “Every year, we have people plow right into them.”

And get this: The lieutenant says you’re definitely not suppose to cut them off.

Imagine that.

A motorist not paying attention was not the problem in my case.

The dude that cut off the car in front of mine either didn’t get it or didn’t care.

Perhaps he thought his life was more valuable than those of the caravan of people grieving a death.

If it were up to me, he’s be sentenced to 50 years of figuring it out.

Contact this columnist at arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com or send tweets to