Driving in a Funeral Procession: What You Need to Know
Attending funeral services for a loved one at funeral homes in Belvidere, IL can bring with it all types of emotions. You may probably be feeling sadness, loss, and grief. If you are to drive in the funeral procession and haven’t done this before, you may also have feelings of being anxious or nervous. After all, driving in a procession has different rules of the road than normal driving and you want to ensure you do everything correctly. No need to worry as we are going to cover everything you need to know.
When You Arrive at the Funeral Service
When you arrive at the funeral home or other set location of the service , the family will most likely have parking attendants to help you with your car. You will let these attendants know that you will be driving in the funeral procession after the service, and they will park your car in the procession line.
Order of the Procession
When the service ends, the guests who are driving in the procession will make their way to their vehicles. There is an order to the cars so make sure to stay in the order your vehicle was placed in.
The order typically goes like this:
- A lead car – This is typically a black sedan driven by someone from the funeral home. There may be a magnetic flag or other markers on the vehicle marking that it is the beginning of a funeral procession.
- Hearse – Next will be the hearse with the deceased in the casket
- Family vehicle – Immediately following the hearse will be the family vehicle. These vehicles are typically limousines or black sedans and reserved for the immediate family.
- Rest of friends and family – The rest of the friends and family will follow in their own vehicles.
- End vehicle – This will be another vehicle driven by the funeral home and will also have a flag or other marker signifying it is the end of the funeral.
Driving in the Procession
Driving in a funeral procession has its own set of rules. First of all, you will be driving slowly. Typically the speed is about 30-40 mph on most city roads and a maximum of 55 mph on any highways.
Also, while normal driving, you want to keep a safe distance between you and the car ahead of you, in a procession, you do not need this extra space. In fact, you want to be very close to the car in front of you. This will reduce the chance of someone who is not in the procession from getting in your line.
Not only do you want to stay close to the car in front of you while driving, but this also goes when you come to things like stoplights. If the light is turning yellow or even if it is red, continue through as the procession has the right of way.
While driving in the procession, you may see other cars on the road yielding or pulling over to let you all pass. This is a sign of respect, and it is safe to pass them. Also, one last thing to note is that you should have your headlights turned on while you are driving in the procession.
While attending services at funeral homes in Belvidere, IL can be a difficult experience, worrying about driving in the procession shouldn’t add to your stress. Just keep these things in mind and if you need more information, feel free to reach out to us anytime as we are happy to help.
