Motorists less courteous to funeral processions

Her car was upside down in someone's front yard and her face was pressed against the glass.

Joe Merritt was shocked to see the same driver seconds earlier swerve into his lane and come less than 100 feet of slamming into his front bumper.

The owner of Merritt Funeral Home was leading a procession a few months ago along Elgin Boulevard heading toward the intersection of California Street.
One vehicle traveling in the opposite direction along Powell Road saw the deputy and the trail of cars behind. He slowed down.

The woman driving behind him hurriedly swerved to the left only to be spooked by the sight of an oncoming caravan of vehicles led by Merritt.
She swerved right and lost control of her vehicle, crashing in front of Merritt, a sheriff's deputy and a line of mourners driving to a nearby cemetery to pay their respects.

Despite the scare, no one, not even the woman in the wrecked car, was seriously injured.
"Folks just have a one-track mind when they're driving and they don't even see the deputy in front of them," said Merritt.

Even the hard-to-miss image of a long, black hearse followed by a convoy of slow-driving mourners following closely behind isn't enough to make people pay attention, local funeral directors have said.
That didn't seem to be the case in the past.

The population of Hernando County has gotten larger and people are living harder and faster today compared to 10, 20 and 30 years ago, said Merritt.
In January, an off-duty Hillsborough County deputy was injured on his motorcycle when a truck hit him during a military funeral procession through Plant City.

The driver, a 40-year-old woman, darted into the line after pulling out of a Dairy Queen. She swerved left to get out of the procession and accidentally struck the deputy, the sheriff's office said.
Mark Downing has been in the funeral business for 15 years and has noticed a difference. He opened Downing Funeral Home and Cremation Services four years ago in Spring Hill.

"People have tunnel vision," he said. "They don't pay attention to what's coming down the road."
He doesn't blame it all on the oblivious nature of modern drivers. He also thinks some of them either don't care or have bad manners.

"If you take a stop watch and time a procession going through an intersection, it'll take 15 or 20 seconds ... 30 tops," said Downing. "People don't seem to want to wait.

"I think it's a lack of courtesy for those who have passed," he continued. "I don't think they realize how important it is to the family to wait for a funeral procession."

Merritt said families don't have a choice when it comes to paying extra for deputy support. Both of his funeral homes are located on busy streets, so such assistance is necessary for motorist safety.
"It's a liability issue for us," he said. "Technically, we're responsible for the procession."

That is why the funeral home always pays the extra $75 for the off-duty deputy. That amount, which is billed to the customer, covers three hours of work.

Sgt. Donna Black, a spokeswoman with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, said off-duty jobs are popular among deputies.

"It's posted up and people are allowed to apply for those jobs," she said. "Anytime there's an opportunity for an off-duty detail, our deputies like to take advantage of it."

Most of the time, only one or two deputies are assigned to a funeral, Black and Merritt said.
Downing said the recent trend of people cutting into processions or trying to swerve around them has caused him and others like him to encourage motorists to drive closer to the vehicle in front of them.

In the past, drivers would stay four or five car lengths behind. Today, they are encouraged to cut that gap, Downing said.
Most of his processions travel up and down U.S. 19, State Road 50, Spring Hill Drive and U.S. 41 - some of the busiest roads in Hernando County.

Those motorists who wait the usual 15 to 30 seconds for a funeral procession to run through an intersection would still be able to pass them along the passing lane of any two-lane road. The parade of cars usually remains in the right lane.

"They can go right past us without any problem at all," said Downing. "People used to be polite. We're not seeing that as often as we used to."