Funeral processions — North Carolina Permit Test

Every vehicle in a funeral procession must have its headlights on, and its hazard warning signals on if it has them.

The lights are how the procession tells everyone else what it is. They are what the other rules hang on.

Every vehicle in a funeral procession must have its headlights on, and the hazard warning signals must also be on, if so equipped.

Once the lead vehicle of a funeral procession has lawfully crossed an intersection, the rest of the procession may proceed through without stopping, using extra care.

A procession works by staying together. The lead car obeys the light and the rest follow it through.

But when the lead vehicle has crossed the intersection in accordance with the traffic-control sign or signal, or when directed to do so by a law enforcement officer or funeral director, or when being led by a law enforcement vehicle, all vehicles in the funeral procession may proceed through the intersection without stopping, while using extra care towards other vehicles or pedestrians.

A driver traveling in the same direction as a funeral procession may not pass it, except where the highway has two or more lanes moving in the procession’s direction.

Passing a procession on a two-lane road means cutting back in among the mourners. On a multi-lane road there is room to go by.

The driver of a vehicle traveling in the same direction as the funeral procession shall not pass or attempt to pass the funeral procession, except that the operator of such a vehicle may pass a funeral procession when the highway has been marked for two or more lanes of moving traffic in the same direction of the funeral procession.

A driver must not knowingly drive between the vehicles of a funeral procession, and when a procession is going through a red light, a driver facing green must not enter the intersection unless it can be done safely without crossing the procession’s path.

A green light does not clear a procession out of the intersection. Driving into it splits the line and risks a crash.

When a funeral procession is proceeding through a red light, the driver of a vehicle that is not in the procession shall not enter the intersection even if facing a green light, unless it can be done safely and without crossing the path of the procession.

A driver going the opposite direction may yield to a funeral procession by reducing speed or stopping completely off the roadway, so that other oncoming drivers can keep traveling in their lane.

Yielding to a procession is a courtesy, not a duty. Done in the lane it becomes a hazard to the cars behind you.

If the driver chooses to yield, the driver must do so by reducing speed, or by stopping completely off the roadway so that drivers of other vehicles proceeding in the opposite direction of the procession can continue to travel without leaving their lane of traffic.

How can you recognize the vehicles in a funeral procession?

Their headlights and hazard flashers are on. The lights are how the procession tells everyone else what it is. They are what the other rules hang on. North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.52: “Every vehicle in a funeral procession must have its headlights on, and the hazard warning signals must also be on, if so equipped.”