The dangers of funeral escorts, elderly people, and traffic barrels.

[P1808]

I was working a funeral escort for a deputy’s family member. The video starts at the first intersection we shut down which was a major road in the area. As the precession came through the intersection I started to head down to the next intersection. The precession was traveling at 25 mph. which allowed us to pass safely at 45-50 within the construction zone. Well I didn’t not make it too far in the precession when an elderly man pulled out in front of me causing me to take out several traffic barrels. The elderly man didn’t even see me and continued to pull out into the precession cutting off the family members and pulled into a business where he had an appointment to replace his hearing aid. The only good part of this is that my Captain, Sergeant and zone partner where all in the precession and I think I was cleared by our accident review board faster than any in recent department history. My emergencies light were activated and my siren was being used on manual only. After pulling the barrels out from under my car my captain stopped me and shook my hand on missing the elderly man and a lieutenant form the local P.D. which worked the crash asked for the video for training. I then moved over to where the elderly man was, by this point he had been informed as to what he did and as I played the video for he looked at me and said he never saw him but there was an officer that flagged him through. Not too sure who he was looking at but I was the only Deputy at that intersection at that time.


the first video is the dash cam form my patrol car, the second is of my patrol vehicles lights at the scene, the center light and two outside lights are steady burn the rest flash. my iphone makes it look like they are all flashing.

 

[julietbravosierra]

I was working a funeral escort for a deputy’s family member. The video starts at the first intersection we shut down which was a major road in the area. As the precession came through the intersection I started to head down to the next intersection. The precession was traveling at 25 mph. which allowed us to pass safely at 45-50 within the construction zone. Well I didn’t not make it too far in the precession when an elderly man pulled out in front of me causing me to take out several traffic barrels. The elderly man didn’t even see me and continued to pull out into the precession cutting off the family members and pulled into a business where he had an appointment to replace his hearing aid. The only good part of this is that my Captain, Sergeant and zone partner where all in the precession and I think I was cleared by our accident review board faster than any in recent department history. My emergencies light were activated and my siren was being used on manual only. After pulling the barrels out from under my car my captain stopped me and shook my hand on missing the elderly man and a lieutenant form the local P.D. which worked the crash asked for the video for training. I then moved over to where the elderly man was, by this point he had been informed as to what he did and as I played the video for he looked at me and said he never saw him but there was an officer that flagged him through. Not too sure who he was looking at but I was the only Deputy at that intersection at that time.

the first video is the dash cam form my patrol car, the second is of my patrol vehicles lights at the scene, the center light and two outside lights are steady burn the rest flash. my iphone makes it look like they are all flashing.

slight technical issue.....................there are no video(s)

 

[P1808]

yea sorry for that i am still working on that, still learning the video thing and i must have done it wrong.

 

[Marvin]

When you get on youtube. On the upper right click on your screen name. Hit Video manager. Then your videos pop up. click on the edit button next to the video you want to edit. Under the video on the right side you will see Privacy setting. Select either public or unlisted.

 

[P1808]

thanks i made the changes. with any luck

 

[Marvin]

Dang. Wish i could have done that when i wrecked my Del sol into a silverado with dirt in it.

 

[lotsofbars]

Good god that was close. Glad nobody got hurt.

 

[JazzDad]

You know what some of these members are going to say, 18? Your car doesn't have enough lights.

 

[TheGatekeeper]

Good move Officer... :thumbsup:

 

[vonirkinshtine]

Fantastic driving! Maybe just damn lucky, but either way!

 

[NJEMT]

You know what some of these members are going to say, 18? Your car doesn't have enough lights.

Ill do it this time, your car does not have enough lights.


But seriously good job handling that car.

 

[P1808]

Good god that was close. Glad nobody got hurt.

no injuries just shook up, lets just say the pucker facter was at maximum

 

[P1808]

You know what some of these members are going to say, 18? Your car doesn't have enough lights.

I have more but dont know where to put them with out looking cluttered.

 

[P1808]

Fantastic driving! Maybe just damn lucky, but either way!

lots of luck here. My sergent was behind be and the only reason he was not first was i beet him off the line. and with him driving a tahoe with heavy push bars he would not have been able to evade or stop. It would have been all bad for all.

 

[Zoe]

Fantastic driving there.


That could have ended poorly very easily.

 

[NFD-102]

Thank god for push bumpers

 

[unlisted]

No matter which way I view it.. The old guy IS totally at fault..


Nobody is anywhere near that intersection to "wave him through"


He didn't check for oncoming traffic..


Even if you were not there- cars moving in the procession (right lane) could of easily clipped him.


If he was trying to make a beeline for the plaza, he would of easily got t-boned.


Did he get charged at all? Unsafe lane change? Does he needs glasses besides a hearing aid?

 

[acala91]

Damn that was close. Excellent job avoiding him.

 

[Storm4200]

your EVOC instructor would be PROUD! send him this video!


great job all around.


btw, i think your patrol car looks great, and i LOVE the steady burn. Stay safe out there :thumbsup:

 

[JohnFireFan]

I am so glad no one was hurt during this. This is were EVOC training kicks in. This is a true situation were critical thinking needs to happen in a split of a split second. Great job in handling your vehicle!

 

[twodogs603]

He would have definitely gotten a ticket if it were me. The problem is, most people don't like writing the elderly tickets, but depending on what it is, they deserve one, and this incident deserved one. A lot of elderly folks shouldn't be driving and ticketing them is the only way to get their and the DMV's attention.

 

[P1808]

Did he get charged at all? Unsafe lane change? Does he needs glasses besides a hearing aid?

 

[RolnCode3]

Did he get charged at all? Unsafe lane change? Does he needs glasses besides a hearing aid?

he was issued a citation for failing to yeild to an emergency vehicle and ordered to take a re-exam.

Good. The cite = who really cares. It's the retest that will be the big deal here. Looks like it's needed.

 

[Firetrux]

Did he get charged at all? Unsafe lane change? Does he needs glasses besides a hearing aid

Great save!


There is now so much dementia and Alzheimer's out there now that I wish they would consider mandatory driving testing at an advanced age.

 

[FSEP]

That was some good driving!

 

[VolEms]

Great driving skills. Now you can retire and join Nascar.

 

[P1808]

Yea the area where this happened is in the villages which is a very large retirement community that spans three counties and this is my second incident where I slammed traffic barrels because of old people going to the hearin aid place. That lady took me to court and said I was behind her and tried ramming her. The video showed other wise. Ill try an find it. The judge in that case seizes her license in the court room and ordered a full medical evaluation and if she was medicly cleared she can tank a re-exam to get her license back.

 

[strobecrazy]

Yea the area where this happened is in the villages which is a very large retirement community that spans three counties and this is my second incident where I slammed traffic barrels because of old people going to the hearin aid place. That lady took me to court and said I was behind her and tried ramming her. The video showed other wise. Ill try an find it. The judge in that case seizes her license in the court room and ordered a full medical evaluation and if she was medicly cleared she can tank a re-exam to get her license back.

Wow, small world. Lived down by Stonecrest across from The Villages. That 441? The drivers down in that area are f***ing crazy, ALOT of them shouldn't be driving anything. Awesome driving BTW!

 

[Hoser]

Great job on avoiding the accident. The barrels will survive. One lucky old man.

 

[AKRLTW]

Quality juke. Good job!

 

[fire2510]

I have to agree with everyone else , excellent driving ..... glad to hear that your department cleared you of the incident before you even got out of the car. Stay safe. Thanks for sharing

 

[MESDA6]

Fantastic driving.


I hate it when the barrels wave me through. :duh:

 

[GBEngineer]

The traffic barrels themselves probably didn't help as the height, size and number of them in the centre median really obscure visibility, you can only just see his car just before he pulls out in front of you which meant he also had limited visibility of you.


Impressive reaction time and good avoidance.


I have to ask though as the concept is completely alien to me but;


What does a funeral procession mean in the US as it's obviously different to the UK?


Why are there so many vehicles in it?


Where are they going to and from?


Why do they need an escort and are not just general traffic?


In the UK I've only seen one hearse and one or two large cars for the immediate family which travel to and from the church.


Everyone else makes their own way to and from the church in advance.

 

[MESDA6]

The traffic barrels themselves probably didn't help as the height, size and number of them in the centre median really obscure visibility, you can only just see his car just before he pulls out in front of you which meant he also had limited visibility of you.
Impressive reaction time and good avoidance.


I have to ask though as the concept is completely alien to me but;


What does a funeral procession mean in the US as it's obviously different to the UK?


Why are there so many vehicles in it?


Where are they going to and from?


Why do they need an escort and are not just general traffic?


In the UK I've only seen one hearse and one or two large cars for the immediate family which travel to and from the church.


Everyone else makes their own way to and from the church in advance.

The procession is typically from the Funeral Home to the Burial Site. All of the mourner's vehicles proceed in a solid line, with the hearse first, family cars next and so on.


In most states, a funeral procession has the right of way and by law can go through red lights, stop signs etc without stopping. This was fine in the 50's and 60's when you didn't have the amount of traffic and urban sprawl that we have now. I remember as a kid in the 60's and even into the 70's that everyone would stop and pull over to the curb when a funeral was passing, whether you were going the same direction or the opposite direction. Now, stopping like we did then will get you into an accident.


Traffic has reached a point in many cities where this practice is unsafe, and a police escort or other private escort service authorized by law is required to block intersections and direct traffic to allow the procession to safely flow unimpeded.


The funeral procession is one of those archaic practices that is a menace to public safety in this day and age, and needs to be stopped, but won't be because no politician is going to go there. It would be a career-ender.


Sounds like you have the right idea in the UK as to how these should be done.

 

[efdny2003]

Definitely a good job avoiding what could have been a very bad accident. What police officer waived him through, because there doesn't appear to be any officer anywhere near that intersection waiving anyone on. That's why older drivers should have to go through everything again and re-test, whether you hit him or he hit someone in the procession that could have just been a horrible accident and he was totally oblivious to it.

 

[firefighter7017]

The procession is typically from the Funeral Home to the Burial Site. All of the mourner's vehicles proceed in a solid line, with the hearse first, family cars next and so on.

In most states, a funeral procession has the right of way and by law can go through red lights, stop signs etc without stopping. This was fine in the 50's and 60's when you didn't have the amount of traffic and urban sprawl that we have now. I remember as a kid in the 60's and even into the 70's that everyone would stop and pull over to the curb when a funeral was passing, whether you were going the same direction or the opposite direction. Now, stopping like we did then will get you into an accident.


Traffic has reached a point in many cities where this practice is unsafe, and a police escort or other private escort service authorized by law is required to block intersections and direct traffic to allow the procession to safely flow unimpeded.


The funeral procession is one of those archaic practices that is a menace to public safety in this day and age, and needs to be stopped, but won't be because no politician is going to go there. It would be a career-ender.


Sounds like you have the right idea in the UK as to how these should be done.

This still happens in my area. We have a single patrol car leading the procession, and everyone else just follows behind him. No shutting down roads or anything like that, people just stop and wait all on their own.

 

[Mrlunchbox]

I can only add what others have already said... fantastic driving! Just missed him. Could have been bad. I work in the road all the time and the two most dangerous groups of folks that always come close to hitting us is young girls and the elderly. Amazing no one got hurt.

 

[MESDA6]

This still happens in my area. We have a single patrol car leading the procession, and everyone else just follows behind him. No shutting down roads or anything like that, people just stop and wait all on their own.

I rarely see anyone stop or yield any more, and I live in a small town where it wouldn't be much of a problem to take a minute and stop.


After I posted that and started thinking about it, it was probably about the time that DRL's on cars became standard equipment that people really stopped recognizing funerals, so sometime in the late 80's or early 90's depending on the car model. It used to be that driving with high beams on during the day meant that you were either in a funeral and there was a whole line of cars with lights on, or you were enroute to a Fire or Ambulance call where I lived. We used high beams and along with our FD tags, people normally pulled over if we were behind them. That's about the time that people stopped paying attention to both types of drivers running with their headlights on, because all of the traffic started blending together with the DRL's. I also think it was a major contributor to people not really seeing Emergency Vehicles with lights on, because there was now a "sea of lights" on the road way during the day.

 

[5309]

What dept do you work for? The Tahoe looks like lake county.

 

[WS224]

This is why lights and siren funeral escorts should be illegal. What's the rush?