Funeral Service Times August 2017 October 2018 | Page 26

26 RESPECTING THE HEARSE
it's an unwritten rule that you don't follow a
hearse and leave the family behind.”
Research by Co-op Funeralcare confirms
the tradition is fading. A survey it conducted
found 29 percent of drivers between the
ages of 18 and 44 were unaware of any
customary respect for funeral cars, and
more than half of pedestrians were oblivious
that they are traditionally expected to stop
what they are doing as the cortege passes.
The research also showed that four in 10
people are unaware that they should bow
their heads and remove any headwear if a
funeral procession passes.
Scotland was found to be the “most
respectful” area of the UK for funeral
corteges, with the Midlands considered
the UK’s “most disrespectful”. David
Collingwood, director of funerals at Co-
op Funeralcare says: “We have seen a
shift away from people observing funeral
etiquette - many people ignore a passing
funeral procession and pedestrians often
disrupt a cortège by using a pelican
crossing.”
“Generations of people are unaware of
the traditions and etiquette which were
once commonplace for people to show
to a passing funeral. The days of workers
stopping what they were doing to mark a
passing procession or people removing their
hats and bowing their heads are long gone.”
Co-op Funeralcare drivers said the most
common examples of disrespect they saw
were verbal abuse, aggressive overtaking,
rude hand gestures, loud music and drivers
cutting into the procession. Collingwood
added that the majority of people now
simply ignore passing funeral processions.
A new threat to the cortege appears to be
people who aim to intentionally disrupt it by
using a pelican crossing to interrupt the flow
of the procession. This practice is popular
with (however not limited to) schoolchildren,
according to Collingwood, who he says
often fool around in front of the cars in the
absence of a pelican crossing.
In light of a clearly growing disrespect
for the funeral procession, we spoke to a
number of funeral drivers to ask what they
had experienced on the roads, and whether
they have noticed a rise in disrespect.
DRIVERS’ STORIES
GREEN’S CARRIAGE MASTERS
Green’s Carriage Masters reported a wide
variety of issues they had faced during
processions. The story of eager parking
wardens resonated with the company
which says it has seen hearses ticketed as
a coffin is being loaded into the back. The
company described parking tickets as its
most common sign of disrespect adding that
it also often sees “pretty generic road rage
about the hearse driving at a slow speed”.
ROWLAND BROTHERS
Rowland Brothers general manager Gary
Bruce explained that “although there has
been the occasional incident, they have
happened so infrequently”. However, the
company explains that the problems it
encounters most frequently are drivers
cutting in between the cortege or cutting
up the hearse, overtaking the cortege as it
was “travelling slower than the overtaking
driver thought they should” and tickets
issued by traffic wardens when the hearse or
limousines were waiting outside a church.
Bruce adds that his company’s cars get
no special dispensation from the authorities.
When travelling into London for example,
the cortege is still required to pay the
congestion charge. With relation to incidents
on toll roads Bruce says the cars are
registered with all the toll roads and bridges
they use and says all fees still apply to them,
however they try to avoid them whenever
possible.
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk
OCTOBER 2018
www.greenscarriages.com
020 8695 9500
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