Funeral Procession Etiquette?

[Christine]

Is there any?.....

Yesterday I attended a funeral and then, for the first time of my life, was a part of the vehicle funeral procession to the cemetary approximately 15 miles away. THAT was one of the scariest, harriest, rides of my life! I guess my basic understanding was that while a procession is going by, you do not break into it, you do not cross an intersection even if you have the green light, etc.

Well, that was not the case. We had a line of cars (oh about 20 or so). While we were in DC we had a police escort of about 3 squadcars and that really helped. They leapfrogged around and blocked intersections. Once we crossed the Maryland line we had only one police car. All participants had flashing lights on etc. No matter what intersection we were at, people were trying to cross the intersection, they were screaming at us and looking bewildered like "why are all these people running the red light?" Several times we had regular traffic cutting into the line formation and zipping around trying to get to wherever they were going. This was not rush hour. On top of it all, we had one numbskull woman in the procession who was unable to keep her speed up, kept trailing 10 cars behind the car in front of her and causing the procession to get separated, although she didn't cause all of these problems I cited. On the way to this funeral we were "almost" hit about 4 times.

Is this how it's supposed to be?? Do I have the wrong impression about how to treat a funeral procession?

 

[Pin Wizard]

No, Christine. You're right. The other cars should have stopped. It's a shame you didn't have the three-car escort the whole way.

 

[JohnTBap]

That does sound scary! I am sorry that you had a rough time. I would think that the funeral home would have arranged enough officers to keep y'all safe and together. People just have no manners anymore.

 

[Jeafl]

Theoretically, you are supposed to have your headlights on and a big orange FUNERAL sticker in your window. This should alert people to the fact that they shouldn't cut into the procession. Unfortunately, there are a lot of either rude or ignorant people out there who don't care. I'm sure the woman lagging behind didn't help matters either. I'm sorry it was a bad experience for you.

 

[browneyes]

In the South, if there's a funeral procession, cars that do not belong in the procession pull over on the side of the road out of respect for the grieving family, no one cuts in the line. My SO's mom's procession was about 40 cars or so, and it was about 25 miles from the funeral home to the grave yard, including a VERY winding country road.

 

[Blondie]

I must say that I have never seen a funeral procession handled so perfectly during my nephew's at the beginning of June in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Since the cemetary was several towns away, each and every town's police was available at every traffic light and major intersection! We were all quite impressed! Norwood, Ridley Twnship., Glenolden, and Springfield did an unbelievable job at keeping the very long line of cars going. Their police cruisers blocked every intersection to keep us moving. I'm sure to the bystanders, it must've looked like a celebrity had died as there were at least 75 cars (I'm not exaggerating) and it must have been very frustrating for them.

 

[Christine]

Well, I'm glad to see that I'm not crazy. Yep, I've come to the conclusion that the rudeness factor is WAY UP THERE these days.

The guy who was doing the driving in the car I was in (thankfully I didn't have to dodge those people myself), kept muttering "Geez, it's the guy's LAST ride, have some respect!"

 

[d.kurz]

I was once in a funeral procession from Smyrna Delaware to Conshohocken, PA. More than an hour ride. It was totally hair-raising. MERGING onto major highways! A nightmare.

Blondie, I think the police in the townships is an unusual occurrence. They probably expected a huge turnout as always happens when one so young as your nephew passes on. I live very close to Sts Peter and Paul and I never see much police activity.

 

[Blondie]

Dorothy, that's where he's buried, Sts. Peter & Paul.

(I used to live in Philly and Folcroft.)

 

[6_Time_Momma]

As far as here. Cars in a funeral procession continue through lights after they turn red if the first car has gone through. Cars the opposite way should stay put if their light turns green until the procession is through.

Also, if you meet a funeral procession coming the other way, you should pull over and stop until the procession has gone by.

 

[d.kurz]

Originally posted by Blondie
Dorothy, that's where he's buried, Sts. Peter & Paul.

(I used to live in Philly and Folcroft.)

I remember, Blondie. Odd thing was, I was at that cemetary that very day at another funeral. I DID see a burial with a whole lot of people and said an extra prayer, cause I thought it might have been you.

 

[Blondie]

Thanks for the prayers Dorothy. What a crappy rainy day that was too.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

This should be something that is taught in driver's ed (or maybe it is and I don't remember it).

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by Annie&Hallie'sMom
This should be something that is taught in driver's ed (or maybe it is and I don't remember it).

I doubt if it would be taught in driver's ed simply because in most cases (I think it differs from state to state, or even city by city) it's not necessarily illegal to cut through a funeral procession, it's just really bad manners to do so.

 

[kbeverina]

It doesn't surprise me--especially in an area where the evening rush hour can be the top story on the 4pm news.

Blondie--we had a similar situation a few years ago when my next door neighbor's baby daughter died of SIDS and they rushed her to the hospital to try to revive her. They had a police car at every intersection on Route 1 holding traffic from here down to Mary Washington so her ambulance could get there as quickly as possible.

 

[cgcw]

Originally posted by browneyes
In the South, if there's a funeral procession, cars that do not belong in the procession pull over on the side of the road out of respect for the grieving family, no one cuts in the line.

We had this experience in South Dakota when DH's grandmother passed away. Coming from the Chicagoland area, it was the strangest thin for us to see. It did show a lot of respect for the deceased and still makes a lasting impression today. Especially the cars which pulled over on a 4 lane highway when we were traveling the other direction.

 

[philaround]

I know that kindness and consideration seem to be things of the past.
I have stopped at intersections for passing funeral processions and have had cars behind me blow their horns and go over on the wrong side of the road and proceed thru the intersection, interupting the procession. I have never seen a cop pull any of these idiots over. Even if it isn't against the law these people need a good talking to but around here there is hardly ever more then one sqaud car, and he is at the front of the procession, so people seem to feel that if the cop can't see them they can do what ever they want.
I remember when I was a kid all cars use to pull over to allow the procession unimpeeded progress. Even pedestrians would stop and turn toward the procession and bow their heads.
I wish we could really have "A kinder and gentler nation". We really need it.

 

[Claudia1]

Yes, we use courtesy in our community, too. I always pull over whenever I'm on the same street, even if it is on the opposite side of the street.

I do wish, however, that the funeral homes would insist that all cars had the identifying flag. It would help to know when the procession has passed.

 

[chell]

I've never seen the identifiers. We always pull over when a funeral procession is coming. When we moved last year we realized that lots of people around here don't do that though. We didn't move but about 75 miles. I don't know why it is so different here.