Funeral Service Times August 2017 October 2018 | Page 24

24 RESPECTING THE HEARSE
Respecting the hearse
A queue of cars tailing the hearse and a doff of the cap were once common sights as the funeral
cortege passed, but after a funeral procession was stopped and charged one by one at a toll bridge in
Cheshire, CASEY COOPER-FISKE asks - is respect for the hearse dwindling?
A
small town coming to a standstill
as the funeral profession passes
through is an image ingrained in
British culture. Tradition dictates
that a doff of the cap and standing still are
an appropriate response to the sight of
the cortege passing by. Drivers are usually
expected to reduce their speed and stay
behind the procession, customarily finding
an alternative route with overtaking and
hooting the horn frowned upon. If a driver
meets the procession on a dual carriageway
then it is considered within reason to
overtake. Elsewhere toll bridges usually
do not charge the cortege for crossing and
figures of authority on the road such as
traffic wardens are generally expected to be
more lenient with funeral cars.
But recent incidents raise the question: is
respect for the hearse dwindling? A Cheshire
toll bridge hit the headlines in August when
OCTOBER 2018
it stopped and charged every member of
a funeral cortege. The bridge operator Peel
Ports said at the time that it was company
policy to waive the charges for funeral cars.
Local funeral directors disagreed with Peel
Ports, with Kay Antrobus from a Parlington
funeral parlour saying: “They would charge
you and the mourners behind you.” A Peel
Ports spokesperson said in the company’s
defence: “We can confirm that it is our policy
to waive the toll at Warburton Toll Bridge
for funeral processions and we are currently
investigating the incident concerned.”
In May, Cumbrian parking wardens were
caught disturbing a funeral procession with
a warden brazenly slapping a ticket on the
front of a funeral car as its driver helped load
a coffin into the back. According to parking
operator, UKPC, the ticket was investigated
and rescinded “quickly”, though the driver
said he saw the parking warden “run off”
as he and a friend returned to the car. “He’s
seen them come in and waited until they
were out of sight before he ticketed them -
he must have known what they were doing,”
the driver said.
At the end of last year a highway
maintenance truck overtook a funeral
procession in Spalding, Lincolnshire leaving
a grieving daughter in tears. The procession
felt compelled to pull over following the
incident, after which Lincolnshire council
were quick to deny the vehicle belonged
to them. Members of the cortege said
the vehicle “tailgated” them until it could
overtake. The funeral director on the day,
Derek Morriss, said: "It would be nice if
we weren't cut up, if we were helped at
roundabouts.” The girl’s mother said at the
time: "I was very upset and very angry about
it. We felt the lowest we've ever felt and
then for that to happen it was awful. To me
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk