AIBU to overtake a hearse?

[confusedabouthormones]

So today on the way home from school I had just pulled onto a dual carriageway and there was a hearse with some cars behind it. They were going to a near by crematorium. I pulled into the outside lane and drove past it.

My mother was in the car and she had a right go at me for being disrespectful and how she was embarrassed to be in my car. When I looked in my mirror no one else had passed the hearse.

Is this a thing? In my 30 odd years driving I've never heard this.

Was I being unreasonable to pass the hearse?

Well surely the hearse driver is ahead of the deceased so they’d get the bad luck.

But the hearse wouldn't be racing, would it? It would be going its normal slow pace and the vehicle passing would be gone and out of its way.

The thing is, we all lose people and we all have different views on this topic. Different cultures are fascinating though.

Oh a dual carriage way, of course you can. Many crematoriums are situated on busy stretches of road and the dual carriage has been put in to easy traffic flow.

Single lane Road, a big no no.

It's fine to pass on a dual carriageway.

We were told by our funeral director to all have our lights on so it was clear who was following to traffic waiting at junctions and roundabouts. Didn't make a blind bit of difference and we still ended up with a kid in a Nissan micra in the cortege!

its seen as disrespectful

I also let funeral cars into junctions, the hearse and the funeral party and if I am on foot I normally stop and bow my head - it may just be an age thing

Only the second?

It's fine on a dual carriageway. It can't be safe to drive that slowly on a dual carriageway or motorway anyway!

On a dual carriageway, if I hadn't noticed the hearse I would have bowed my head in respect on overtaking. I would never overtake a hearse intentionally.

Dual carriage way and motorways are acceptable overtaking occasions. Single lane roads - definitely not.

On a dual carriageway? Surely not.

You can't stop on a main road to let 5+ cars out. It's dangerous. Maybe in less car-focused times it was easier but these days it's just not safe.

So many cars now have automatic lights that I imagine it was a mistake. 'Lights on' isn't something I've heard of.

I'm from NI and the main road between the local hospital and our town, where the local undertaker is, is a dual carriageway with a 70mph speed limit. Nobody would ever overtake a hearse in town or on a single lane, but equally nobody would ever sit behind a hearse on the dual carriageway. That's just not a thing.

Dual carriageway is fine. I think the not doing it on other roads is so you don't have to cut in to the procession (if there is one) if there is oncoming traffic.

It is only Tuesday and I've been out mostly.

Disrespectful. No wonder your mother was angry.

Yes.

Basic paying respect to the dead.

Your poor mum OP.

We have a dual carriage way and a funeral home close to where we live. So there are funeral cars on the road most days of the week.

Single lanes roads = absolutely no overtaking ever acceptable.

Dual carriage way = people here do drive past on the outside lane but much slower than speed limit. Eg the funeral cars are going around 30mph and people overtake at about 40mph and then speed back up to 70 only once they are well past and out of sight. If the funeral cars are coming up to a junction/roundabout then everyone hangs back behind.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe this was many many years ago, but I agree that automatic lights these days would render it moot.

On a dual carriageway I would overtake snd I have done. As long as you weren't revving your engines and roaring past at 100mph you're fine. On a single carriageway of any description no you shouldn't.

On a dual carriageway it could have been a lot more than that, leading to fairly major congestion behind.

When my parents died the nearest crematorium was 15 miles away along a stretch of dual carriageway. I am pretty sure that the hearse itself speeded up when it was on it. OK, it wasn't doing 70 but it was going at the same speed as the lorries. When it turned off to the approach to the Crematorium then it slowed down.

That is very much still a thing here (town of about 10,000 people. When a funeral procession passes down the main street, many people including staff will stand outside the shops they were in with heads bowed.

Would procession really expect normal road rules not to apply such as Junctions, give way and roundabouts?

Probably rude but I don’t drive so not sure of etiquette

last year I pressed a pedestrian button crossing just as a hearse went past. I realised my error but it was too late. The hearse drove through and all the other cars with mourners in had to wait whilst I crossed the road. I still feel awful now when I think of it. I’m such a dick! It really messed up their procession
as other cars ended up behind and the hearse had to pull over and wait. I had to walk past and I could feel their eyes on me! Then about 20 minutes later I walked past the church as they were all getting out. 😭

Awful behaviour sorry