Monday, June 28, 1999
COMMUTING COLUMN
Use courtesy near funeral processions
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For most commuters, funeral processions aren't part of everyday driving. So, encountering one slowly winding its way to the cemetery can throw commuters into “what do I do now?” mode.
It's a mode that's led funeral directors and off-duty police escorts to see just about all the possibilities.
Drivers cut in behind the hearse. They try to cross an intersection when their light turns green, even though the funeral procession is crossing. They've gone into ditches to get around the line of cars.
Drivers have cut into the middle of the procession and when a light turns red, the nonfuneral procession car stops, cutting off the back half of the procession from the front half.
They've tried to merge into processions on the interstate and they've cut off cars in a funeral procession to make their exit.
Even with uniformed officers standing by with their lights flashing and whirling, there have been a number of accidents in recent years.
“And there's been too many close calls to count,” said Terry Trost.
Since 1987, the 16-year Miami Township, Clermont County, police veteran has been escorting funerals on his off-time. His company, Motorcycle Escorts of Blue Ash, escorts up to 140 funeral processions monthly.
Motorists may react in a variety of ways when confronted with a procession. Drivers get impatient. Some are oblivious to the line of cars with purple flags attached. Others are just unsure what to do as the procession slowly winds its way down a road, particularly down a high-speed interstate.
“We see a lot of people who don't know what to do,” said Kentucky State Police Lt. Kevin Payne.
The definition of a funeral procession — two or more cars displaying purple and white pennants and with headlights on following the body of a deceased person — is similar in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
And the laws are similar, too.
The funeral procession has the right of way.
That provides easy answers for most situations.
If the light before commuters is green, wait and let the procession through. On a highway entrance ramp, wait for the procession to go by before entering the highway.
But what's the best thing to do if a long funeral procession is in the right-hand lane of the interstate, making it difficult to get to an exit?
There's no simple answer.
“Use the best common-sense judgment,” says Lt. Paul Hermes with the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Batavia post. “You don't want to stop on the interstate if at all possible because chances are that the person behind you probably won't be paying attention.”
If it's impossible to make the exit without cutting off processional cars, he suggests taking the extra few minutes to go to the next exit and then turning around.
It could also save drivers from traffic violations.
In Ohio, cutting into a funeral procession can result in a ticket similar to a speeding ticket. Fines vary, but the maximum is $100. In Kentucky, the offense can result in up to 90 days in jail. In Indiana, ticketed drivers must pay a fine and court costs.
But above all, some funeral directors say, the key is being courteous around funeral processions.
Grieving families notice if cars going in the opposite direction pull off to the side of the road or if a construction worker places his or her hard hat over the heart.
And they notice if drivers are rude.
Matthew Rost, resident director for Gilligan-Barrere Funeral Home in Columbia Tusculum and director of three others, said: "When we get to the cemetery, you don't know how often I hear, "Did you see what that guy did back there?'”
Tanya Albert's “Commuting” column appears each Monday in the Metro section. E-mail her at tmalbert@enquirer.com
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