A question of etiquette ...

I'm very sorry Aka I didn't mean to offend or sound critical. As you say everyone is entitled to an opinion

Congratulations on your new Granddaughter.
I agree with thatbags so won't repeat it.

I do think it shows lack of patience and respect for the dead Nina but that's only my opinion and you are entitled to think differently. When I've been in a funeral cortège (sadly too many recently) I've been saddened at the way some drivers behave, at the very time you don't need to feel any worse.

A member of our church has just died. She's having a horse drawn hearse and it's going all round our town!

I am in agreement with the majority in that I would feel very uncomfortable overtaking a funeral procession. I miss the days when people would stand still, men would remove their hats as the funeral party drove by as a show of respect and sympathy. What a sad society we have created if a moment's (which is all it is in the grand scheme of things) empathy is asking too much.

If it was something that happened regularly, I, too, would probably look for another route to take.

The last funeral we went ,all the ordinary cars following were given black flags to attach to the drivers windows. It did feel rather odd but the Funeral Director said it was to stop us all being separated on the very busy A6.We got some rather odd looks but it served its purpose.No-one at the funeral had seen it done before.

vegas Congratulations
Aren't there a lot of delays on that particular stretch because of the new tram routes?
I'm going down there on Friday, and I was hoping the work would have moved on [fingers crossed]

I don't think I'd overtake a funeral cortege along there.

I don't think it shows lack of respect Aka DH will always stop if he's a pedestrians and will always remove his hat. Even if he's in the car. I admire him for it. However, I would not like to think I was causing inconvenience to others whilst in a cortège. Grief and mourning are personal.

Whatever happened to patience and respect for the dead? Does it matter if we get home/to work ten minutes later?

I don't see why a non mourner should not make a reasonable progress but there obviously has to be space to get past a cortège and to make allowances for both the width of the road and a possible long line of mourners cars in front. Given the right road conditions it should be possible to drive past at a respectfully normal pace.

At my parents funerals the undertaker walked ahead of the hearse to the end of our close and drove sedately the short distance to the chapel where the service was to be held. After that they set off at a much more sensible pace to the crematorium about five miles away.

Lovely news Vegas

I'd never overtake a funeral procession unless it's on a duel carriageway. There are mourners following behind in ordinary cars and I'd hate to get between them and the hearse.

I think it's an antiquated custom to drive slowly. At recent funerals I've attended , an uncles and ny husbands. The director has walked in front of the hearse for about 100yds then got in and the driver has put his foot down.
Why the habit of driving very slowly has developed I have no idea.
Perhaps the Romans had the best idea. Outside the city walls after sunset.

It is accepted here that people over take on the 4 mile stretch of dual carriage way that is the only route to either crematorium.

As Gagagran says, the funerals at Southern Cemetery's crematorium and chapel are strictly timed and funeral directors do try to move everyone along, but on busy days there can be one cortège lined up whilst waiting for the other mourners to vacate parking spaces. My son used to house share just a few doors along from the beginning of the cemetery on Barlow Moor Road and we have seen cars pull into his driveway to turn round and go back.

Congratulations on the birth of your new grandchild.
Just my personal opinion but is it really the case that we are living at such a fast pace now that we cannot be patient even for a few minutes? I would not overtake a hearse.

Ah - you may be right, I can remember at one funeral wondering why there was a huge crowd gathering not far away, I hadn't realised how busy crematoriums could get.

I think some of them crawl along because they have strictly timed slots at the crematoria and they need to time their arrival quite carefully. It can be a bit like a conveyor belt at times - I hate funerals held there.

I was in a funeral procession last year and noticed that we were going at a fair lick. So it may be down to some of the funeral directors. It sounds as if it is on a busy route, and so needs a bit of a warning in place for drivers wishing to use that road.

I wonder if a phone call to all the funeral directors in the area would speed things up a little. I like to get to the root of the problem. I know it is an old custom, but in today's world and traffic, maybe it's one that we shouldn't be keeping. Or should it? I get quite enough of a shiver seeing a hearse pass at any speed, without it crawling along, which some do.

If there is a cortege on a dual carriageway I think it is acceptable to pass it. On a single lane road I think it would be disrespectful. The other day though I got stuck behind a procession driving in the outside lane of the dual carriageway into town.

I've said before, on this topic, that we live on the route between the village church and the cemetery so have this problem quite often. All the people in the village stay in the queue and it is bound to happen when I'm running late!

My maternal grandparents, great grandparents, an aunt and a couple of uncles are buried in South Cemetery and I have yet to find the family grave when I have been on my own.

Our road is often quite a stressful drive as there are also 3 farms, 4 stables, a school and a huge new estate between us and town with all the inevitable delays they bring.

Congratulations on the new addition Vegas

Vegas.

How lovely for you. I hope you have years of pure joy with the little one.

I can't think of a better post than thatbags actually.

I will just say on a personal note I don't think when you are sitting in the funeral car following the hearse you even take notice. I think your mind is in, shall we say, a different place.

Lovely news,*vegas*! I don't overtake funerals. Manners have changed so much though, I'm sure a lot of people do. An undertaker recently told me that once when the cortège had to park in the middle of a narrow street, a driver came up behind and started hooting. The driver of the limo got out and politely asked him if he would like to explain to the mourners why his journey was so important that he couldn't wait till they got into the cars. I remember when people stopped on the pavement until the cars had gone by.

Congratulations vegas
No I wont overtake a funeral, I have a similar journey to Ds house.

In principle I don't think it is disrespectful for the world to go on as usual around a funeral procession. How I would feel if caught up in that situation I'm not sure, but at the moment I think that if I didn't know the dead person and his/her relatives, then the cortege has nothing to do with me, so I feel that it is okay to overtake if it is safe to do so. I certainly would on a dual carriageway, which suggests that it's not the overtaking that's the problem but the road.

Not much help, I'm afraid, just thoughts on encountering the problem on GN.

Congratulations on your new grand-daughter.

Congrats, vegas. Lovely news about your GD

Like you, I drive along that road regularly (Barlow Moor Road?), and often get caught in a long line of traffic as the cars are turning into the cemetery. I've seen the odd car do a u-turn and drive back to the next road to go round the other side of the cemetery, presumably. I wouldn't overtake them myself, but if desperate perhaps you could pull out of the queue and turn round by the shops or side roads opposite? Not sure you'd cut much off the 15 minutes, though

Congratulations .

I don't think you are comfortable with shooting past a funeral cortège or you would just do it , it must cause you problems being held up so often , isn't there another route? Expect this is a daft question because if there was you would take it. I couldn't over take and think I would be upset if I were a mourner and saw cars shooting past.