Funeral Convoy: What to do?

[EngineerJoe]

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I was talking to an EMS guy at a ride a few weeks ago and he was saying the police are minimizing escort duty. I was told the Highway of Heros ride was broken up into small groups and only the first group had an escort. Maybe someone can confirm.

You're pretty much correct. It may have been the first two groups though, and it certainly wasn't ALL groups. Personally, I think this should change for next year's Highway of Heroes ride (I think it should be all groups).

As for funeral processions, I say pull over and let them pass. It's a matter of respect. And don't complain about the length of the procession. The longer the procession, the more lives that were touched by the life of the deceased. You don't have to die in the line of duty to have had a positive influence on the lives of many. If you're beef is because that it disrupts traffic, I'd like to remind you that you live in the GTA and everything somehow results in a disruption of traffic.

 

[Rob MacLennan]

It seems like many posting here think the ambulance should stop for ten minutes to let the parade pass.

And what evidence do you have of that? I see none.

 

[FiReSTaRT]

Tell that to the dead pedestrian who gave up her life for a dumb procession today.

She gave up her life for a Darwin award. She was making an illegal crossing and wasn't paying attention to the conditions. Really people, it's not that complicated. Show some respect. It's customary and there are good reasons for it.

 

[nobbie48]

About a month ago, I went to a small town north of Toronto to attend a relative's funeral. There was a procession to the cemetery. I was deeply touched to see that everyone, from truckers, police who were not involved, and pedestrians (even those not waiting to cross the road) all stopped. It was out of respect.
When a life is lost, that is a very heavy thing! In Toronto, I will always wait, with head bowed and a prayer, until a procession has passed, whenever it is safe to do so.

When my father-in-law died the small town funeral procession was huge and it meant a lot to the family to see how much respect people had for him.
However I have emboldened your comment re when safe.

It wasn't a funeral but the same type of circumstance for me that brings out the safety aspect.

I was stopped at a red light on Steeles Ave in Brampton (80kph limit) but when the light turned green I couldn't proceed because the usual construction twits had blocked the lanes on the other side of the intersection and I didn't want to block the intersection.

As I sat there I kept checking my mirrors and sure enough I see a SUV bearing down on me at 80 kph likely fixated on the green and assuming I was going to enter the intersection. The SUV couldn't see the construction pylons.

I set a point of no return for the SUVs stop point and was prepared to bail left or right but fortunately the guy slammed on the brakes. I was in my cage and therefore more visible and protected than my bike.

My point is that the person behind you may not be aware of the funeral situation any more than the guy that nearly rammed me was aware of the construction work.

If you're going to be polite, watch your back

 

[Griffin]

And what evidence do you have of that? I see none.

Well, it seems we see things differently then.

The concensus seems to be that everyone should stop to allow a funeral procession to proceed, regardless of police escort or not.

Me, and some others, have pointed out that these processions can be very disruptive to traffic flow.

Traffic flows for a number of reasons and it isn't all just people out for an afternoon drive that can easily afford to wait several minutes for a procession. Some people are legitimately in a hurry to get where they are going.

Included in that are emergency responders. If you don't understand the impact of a blocked roadway on emergency responders I suggest you give it some consideration. If all traffic comes to a stop, it blocks traffic in many places. That significantly increases response times for emergency services.

Consider this, you have a cop blocking traffic in an intersection waving the funeral procession through. An ambulance is coming across that intersection, has a green and is expecting to be able to get through. Coming up on the intersection the driver now sees the cop and has to come to a stop and wait for the cop to try to stop the funeral procession, who are mindlessly following the car in front of them secure in the knowledge that the cops are blocking traffic for them and they don't have to stop. The cop has to get the funeral procession to understand they need to stop so the ambulance can proceed. Great. Job done. Ambulance only delayed 20 - 30 seconds and accidents crossing this now very high risk intersection avoided. And, 30 seconds behind the ambulance, here comes the fire truck. Rinse and repeat. If you don't think this happens regularly in a city like Toronto you aren't thinking of the volume of emergency responses.

None of this is even addressing the hazard posed by the escort itself which has also been alluded to before. Escort duty is very high risk for cops.

Personally, I don't see the need or value of it.

 

[Kool]

Those annoying dead people's friends and families...who the f*** do they think they are? I'm late for my appointment because I couldn't get my lazy fat azz out of bed in time....I'm more important...I mean they are dead after all ...wtf? And what about those old people crossing the streets...if they can't make the light in time...I say run the freaks down. I'm late....for my rub and tug.
You sir are a piece of work.

 

[RandomHero]

Those annoying dead people's friends and families...who the f*** do they think they are? I'm late for my appointment because I couldn't get my lazy fat azz out of bed in time....I'm more important...I mean they are dead after all ...wtf? And what about those old people crossing the streets...if they can't make the light in time...I say run the freaks down. I'm late....for my rub and tug.
You sir are a piece of work.[/]
Are you replying to anyone specific, or are you just publicly jerking off to your supposed moral superiority over others who have made valid points as to why it's important for funeral processions to have a police escort? Do you deny that without an escort they can cause serious implications?

It's sad that noone here can be bothered to actually READ what is being said, instead the same boring unintellectual response is made about how people are inconsiderate. Haven't seen anyone address the safety concerns brought up yet which leads me to believe most people here aren't actually interested in having a real discussion. By all means though, Please prove me wrong.

Is this post passive aggressive enough for you rob, or should I just respond with one liners how anyone who doesn't do exactly as I do has no "decency".

 

[jc100]

I'm not aware of a rash of deaths/collisions arising from funeral processions, you have the MTO statistics at hand I guess though which would instantly prove all of us asking for a little respect wrong. Could it be that any outcry over safety is more a whine at the supposed implication that such processions deny you your right to not have to leave for journeys a few minutes earlier just in case there's something occuring like this en route?

Furthermore...it is common decency to acknowledge these things (it is something that is commonly observed). Someone died, maybe someone that had an impact on other people's lives. A few minutes delay is really not much to ask...or at least it used not to be until attitudes changed for the worse in my opinion.

When you stop caring about others less fortunate than yourself I don't think that's a good thing for anyone.

 

[frekeyguy]

Sorta related, I hope this doesn't sound disrespectful. Having recently attended a funeral in my own family, a logistical question came to mind. Is there any way to estimate how many deaths, natural or otherwise, occur in Toronto every day/week?

http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-597/index.cfm

 

[just_luc]

You are legally required to follow any directions given by the police escort. From a moral standpoint you should allow the procession to proceed without interruption. Give a minute of your time so that a grieving family doesn't have to deal with petty aggravation.

Thank you. I was waiting for your comments. I am on the same page as you with most of your comments out here. In quite a few topics I wait for your response for the correct answer.

Show some damn respect. Pull over and let it go by. If it's going the way you are, go one block over, get a head of it and continue on your way.

Now I understand moral decay....me...it's all about me....my time is more valuable than yours. **** u. This isn't the society I want to be apart of.

Absolutely - Very well put Rob

Jc100 is bang on, the day a close death happens to any of you, the last thing you are going to want to have to deal with is ******** that can't wait a few min to continue to their so called important life.

So sad how self absorbed people are these days

+10000000

Seriously people.. the mourners are from out of town.. they don't know where they are going.. and they've got a lot on their mind to be trying to read directions and find a cemetery by a certain time.

The 5 minutes out of your oh so important day, pull over and let them pass.. in the end you will never notice the lost time (it's minutes not hours or days) and it shows respect and makes the lives of others easier.

 

[fastar1]

You are legally required to follow any directions given by the police escort. From a moral standpoint you should allow the procession to proceed without interruption. Give a minute of your time so that a grieving family doesn't have to deal with petty aggravation.

A grieving family can't read directions? Processions are retarded and I treat them as such. Why should YOUR grieving force an inconvenience on everyone else? Does that make people feel better?

For the record, I was not a part of the procession in my avatar, and refuse to ever be in one.

 

[fastar1]

..and so continues the death of common decency.

You're talking about the procession, surely?

 

[fastar1]

A lot of people come from out of town and don't know their way around, easier if everyone is in a convoy.

BS. How did they find the funeral home to begin with?

People want a procession because of the pomp. I say F them.

 

[manboy145]

they should all take a bus instead of million cars going to the same place.

 

[Rob MacLennan]

The concensus seems to be that everyone should stop to allow a funeral procession to proceed, regardless of police escort or not.

Wrong. You're extending the point, creating a logical fallacy. The question was about us, regular motorists, taking the time to allow a procession to pass. By extending your argument to the point of absurdity, you invalidate your input to the argument.

 

[jc100]

You're talking about the procession, surely?

No, funeral processions have been around for donkeys years, this self absorbed, me-me-me, disregard for anyone else behaviour seems relatively recent and way more north American centric.

 

[Xtina]

I jumped in between cars in a procession and a cop quickly shooed me out. So no you can't cut the line.

 

[fastar1]

No, funeral processions have been around for donkeys years, this self absorbed, me-me-me, disregard for anyone else behaviour seems relatively recent and way more north American centric.

Not so sure that processions have been around for so long, except for public figures. Even if so, there may have been a time when a procession was not intrusive to everyone else's lives like they usualy are now, so perhaps they were more appropriate then. Times change.

The "me-me-me behaviour" still sounds like you're referring to funeral processions.

 

[jc100]

Not so sure that processions have been around for so long, except for public figures. Even if so, there may have been a time when a procession was not intrusive to everyone else's lives like they usualy are now, so perhaps they were more appropriate then. Times change.

The "me-me-me behaviour" still sounds like you're referring to funeral processions.

Thats right....because a death is equal to you getting somewhere 10 minutes early. Of course, how dumb of me.

 

[fastar1]

Thats right....because a death is equal to you getting somewhere 10 minutes early. Of course, how dumb of me.

So mourners get a free pass on incivility?

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