Funeral processions

[PhillipM]

Nah, if they can get somewhere quick enough to stop some other poor bds having to have a convey then all speed to 'em.

[cootuk]

Today in Leeds on a 40mph dual carriageway I saw a funeral procession travelling fairly slowly which had the rear car (small car not limousine) blocking the second lane. Not very good I thought. Nothing wrong with an overtake there apart from the walt who thought they should police the speed to about 20mph

[ChasW]

This post has made me think. We did not have a procession at my Mum's funeral. We all arrived in advance and watched while the hearse arrived. I think it must be because the crematorium was running a 30 or 40 min cycle and we had to get in and out quickly. Many are privately owned now so it's all about making money. I was given a strict 3 minutes for the eulogy!

[R E S T E C P]

Last week I passed a walking procession - hearse in front, led by a lady on foot, followed by 30ish people walking at a crawl (to accommodate the oldies in the group).

This was through the centre of a town (small, but busy with commuting traffic) at 5.30pm on a weekday. It brought the entire town to a standstill. Luckily I was driving the other way but I saw that the line of standstill traffic was backed up more than a mile away.
The closest cemetery was nearly a mile ahead of the procession so they still had a long way to go.

I don't know why anyone would choose to do that at rush hour.

[ChasW]

From my experience these places get booked up quickly so the relatives may not have had much choice. Agree, it would have been an odd time to choose. Most appear to be in the middle of the day to allow people to travel.

[surveyor]

R E S T E C P said:

Last week I passed a walking procession - hearse in front, led by a lady on foot, followed by 30ish people walking at a crawl (to accommodate the oldies in the group).

This was through the centre of a town (small, but busy with commuting traffic) at 5.30pm on a weekday. It brought the entire town to a standstill. Luckily I was driving the other way but I saw that the line of standstill traffic was backed up more than a mile away.
The closest cemetery was nearly a mile ahead of the procession so they still had a long way to go.

I don't know why anyone would choose to do that at rush hour.

At my grandfathers funeral the walk lasted 100m or so on his quiet road, before we drove at a respectful spied to the crematorium. Seemed to make sense.

His actual service was held after the cremation which I also quite liked. Felt a bit more of a celebration of what he had achieved, rather than the more sad mourning side.