Girl Scout Leads Community Awareness for Following Funeral Procession Laws
Clarissa McNally from Muscatine, Iowa, has achieved the Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, for educating Iowa citizens on the laws related to funeral processions and their importance for all involved.
“With some people pulling over and some not, it has caused people that are pulling over to be rear-ended by the people still driving,” says McNally. “When people in the procession don’t know when to or not to stop, this causes some people outside the line to be confused on what is going on which increases risk of accidents.”
Clarissa began her journey by researching traffic laws and funeral processions, as well as meeting with funeral homes to collect their insight on the matter. Once enough information had been collected, Clarissa got to work on creating brochures and posters. Her next step involved handing out brochures, talking to people and setting up informational booths at local events.
After seeing how successful her booths were, Clarissa revisited the funeral homes and discussed notable changes. To ensure that people remain educated, she printed brochures and delivered them to the funeral homes, who agreed to continue to restock them as needed.
“I learned that I am a lot better at talking to people than I first thought. The more I talked with people, the more confidence I gained,” says the Gold Award Girl Scout. “With just my local community events alone, I reached over 500 people talking about my project.”
Through achieving the Gold Award, Clarissa is educating community members on the importance of following laws regarding funeral processions, increasing safety and respect for all. Law code 321.324 – A funeral procession states that “Upon the immediate approach of a funeral procession, the driver of every other vehicle, except an authorized emergency vehicle, shall yield the right-of-way.”
