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Undertakers make plea against road rage
2011-04-05 00:19:12
4 April 2011 Last updated at 19:08 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Funeral road rage: Call for more respect among drivers Drivers should behave respectfully to a funeral procession, directors say Continue reading the main story Related Stories 'Funeral delays' meeting planned Hearse theft attempt at funeral
Funeral directors are urging drivers to show more respect after a survey suggested road rage against corteges has become commonplace.
Research found more than half of drivers had seen others cutting into a procession or overtaking aggressively.
One in six had seen drivers making hand gestures or behaving threateningly.
But three out of four drivers who took part in the Co-operative Funeralcare survey said they would consider pulling over to let a funeral cortege pass.
Phillip Davies, who runs a funeral service at Fforestfach, Swansea, said: "I've had to put up with drivers hooting their horns, gesticulating rudely and using bad language.
"It doesn't happen that often, but if it happens once then that's once too often isn't it?"
He called for people coming into contact with a funeral procession to think before they act.
"The people who make these gestures should think how they would like people to react if it was the funeral of their mum or dad or brother or sister," he said.
"It's a question of how you are brought up.
Continue reading the main story SURVEY RESULTS Three out of four drivers said they would consider pulling over to let a funeral cortege pass as a sign of respect. Nine out of ten said they would drive at a slower speed to remain behind the funeral procession. One in 12 said they did not know that they should not sound their horn at the cortege or break into the procession. Over 65s were twice as likely to show respect on the roads to funeral corteges as those under 45. Source: The Co-operative Funeralcare"As a young lad I was taught to show some respect to my elders, and if a funeral cortege went by and you were wearing your hat you would take it off."
Co-operative Funeralcare said one in five corteges were disrupted directly as a result of lack of concern or awareness by other road users.
David Collingwood from the company said the increase in traffic and people's busier lifestyles were factors.
"Other road users tend to be so impatient nowadays and their main concern is get to their end destination as quickly as possible, regardless of other traffic on the road," said Mr Collingwood.
Almost three-quarters of staff questioned said there had been an increase in rude behaviour within the last five years.
"When it comes to paying your last respects to someone very close to you, understandably you want the funeral to go smoothly and surely a little respect and courtesy from passing motorists is appreciated during one of the most difficult times of your life," added Mr Collingwood.
Peter Rodger, chief examiner of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), said "With the increasing pace and pressure that people feel in life, it is not surprising that there is less respect and patience for funeral processions, with the perceived delay they represent.
"All drivers should be prepared to show tolerance towards other traffic - which includes behaving respectfully around a funeral procession."
More than 2,000 drivers took part in the survey carried out between 4 and 28 January, 2011.
We asked for your comments if you had ever witnessed road rage on a funeral procession. Here is a selection of people's views and experiences.
During my Great Grandmothers funeral procession a car parked at the side of the road began to accelerate as the procession was passing and due to lack of space in the road began using their horn. The procession would have been past in moments but this driver could not wait.
I was over in the UK for my mother in laws funeral in March. We had quite a way to go from the home to the crematorium and during the drive a lorry over took some of the other mourners in their cars and found himself behind one of the black limos carring family members. At that point he stayed with us until we turned off the main road. He could have easily seen the reason for the cars going slowly but instead of just sitting tight he over took until he was right uo to the last two cars and hearse, then I guess he twigged and decided to stay put. This put a loss of "line of sight" for the other mourners and some missed the turn off as they could not see past the lorry.
I think this is absolutely shocking that some people can show so little respect for the dead and the grieving families. What has society come down to?
Here the funeral courtege has a police escort and other vehicles must pull over. All of the vehicles in the cortege have a flag attached so other drivers know it is part of the cortege. Even if the trafic lights turn red while the cortege is passing through the other drivers still have to give way! On my last trip to the UK I witnessed other vehicles cutting in and 'splitting' the cortege up. I was quite shocked by it although I knew it's a regular occurrence there. Even my dad's cortege was split up multiple times a few years ago. There again; How is one supposed to know what cars are actually in the cortege in the UK? The big coffin cariers and the other look alike cars are the obvious ones but the rest are just ordinary vehicles with no markings to show they are part of the cortege!
I have been a funeral director for over 20 years and the respect shown by other drivers and pedestrians has literally gone out of the window. For the sake of a few seconds, drivers seem to think it's ok to either cut in between a cortege or indeed overtake, and in sometimes dangerous situations. It sure is time some respect was shown, like I always think " one day this could be you in here".
A few years ago I went to a friends funeral in the Isle of Man. No vehicle took the cortege and traffic coming in the oppisite direction even stopped. Perhaps they could show us a few manners
I was travelling with my fiancee's family to her father's funeral recently, and was amazed by the risks some people took to get past the very small cortege - even when there was a dual carriageway only a short way ahead. It just seemed as though his death was of no importance to all but close family, and that they couldn't even show respect for his final few minutes in the community. In the USA, they have legislation requiring motorists to give way to corteges, and undertakers are often given purple flashing lights to enable them to take all the cars through junctions in once go.
I have been a Funeral Director for over 20 years and the respect shown by other drivers and pedestrians has literally gone out of the window. For the sake of a few seconds, drivers seem to think it's ok to either cut in between a cortege or indeed overtake, and in sometimes dangerous situations. It sure is time some respect was shown, like I always think " one day this could be you in here".
When my grandfather was buried the Funeral Director walked in front of the Hearse for the first 50odd yds, before we drove in convoy to the Church for the funeral service. That was on a relatively quiet road in a small town. We even benefited from suspension of the Tolls on the bridge leading to the church. Near to Portsmouth is a road that carries four funerals per hour, as they process to the crem. For those businesses on that road it is an un-necessary additional problem. There is no reason that the cortege does not drive at the normal traffic speed, as recommended in the HIghway Code. The reason they used to travel at walking speed was because they were Horse drawn, not due to some misplaced 'respect' . The motorcar has been around for 100+ years, time the Funeral Directors realised that.
When I worked in America I notice they don't have this problem as they have police escort and I think it would be a good use of police time to do the same here if we have descended so much that fools can be so disrespectful to a family during such a hard time.
Here in the maritime region of Canada all vehicles in a funeral cortege are identified by a flag that's stick to the roof of the car by magnet. Also it's common courtesy here that vehicles on both sides of the road pull over until the entire procession has passed, sometimes even pedestrians stop and bow their heads, it's a very touching gesture that grieving families can feel some comfort in.
This subject is something that concerns me greatly. I attend many funerals and I can truly say that in 90% of the cases there is road rage because people are just too impatient. In one instance, the over-taking driver failed to take into consideration that he could have spooked the horses pulling the hearse and put several lives in danger. If it was not for the calm of the funeral director, a serious accident could have happened. People must be less selfish and more considerate.
My husband is a priest and he often comes home with stories of how people have overtaken the funeral cortege aggressively. He has witnessed several near misses, where the driver has reacted so aggressively that they have almost caused an accident, either involving themselves alone or even worse, the cortege as well.
A good experience I'd like to share: a couple of years ago I attended the funeral of a good friend and part of the route took us along the A2, a very busy part of south east London. As the hearse ahead of my car got to the junction to join the A2 a great big artic just stopped to our right and blocked all the one way traffic approaching us as we pulled out, this meant that no other road users could interrupt our cortege at that point. We were very grateful for that, as the cortege was not split at all. Thanks mate, whoever you were.