Plea to respect funeral processions after road rage crash

This hearse was on its way to a funeral when it was side-swiped in a road rage incident

Impatient drivers must "show respect" for funeral corteges after a hearse was side-swiped, delaying someone's funeral and causing £20,000 of damage, a funeral director has said.

Geraint Griffiths described the incident outside a funeral home in Pontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, as a "lack of respect".

He said similar situations were happening "weekly" and drivers had even become abusive.

"The distress and carnage caused was unreal," said Mr Griffiths of the incident on 15 October.

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) said it was a growing problem across the UK.

Mr Griffiths said his firm had to scramble last week when a driver scraped the hearse on a narrow lane.

"It caused a delay while we had to switch out to another hearse and now we are down a hearse for repairs costing £20,000," he said.

He told the BBC a cortege should be treated like a train on the road and pleaded with drivers to be patient.

"It's happening weekly... someone will cut up a hearse or not let us out at a junction cutting in between the cortege and separating families," Mr Griffiths said.

"It's just a lack of respect."

The funeral director, who said he tried to keep off main roads and recently added white flashing lights to his hearses, urged motorists to let funeral processions go ahead, adding that a "few extra moments" was all they needed.

"It's just wrong not stopping and letting the whole cortege go so all the family can stay together as a mark of respect," he said.

Mr Griffiths' remarks were echoed by Modris Kesans, the founder of Kilvey Carriages in Swansea, who said: "The public are in too much of a hurry... they will even cut in front of a horse drawn funeral carriage."

He said the behaviour had already caused a bad accident in Bridgend in 2016 that saw a horse killed.

"It's quite traumatic for the families that we deal with, to see this happening"

"We're used to dealing with these idiots on the road, so we sort of put up with it, but it's still not very nice.

"It's quite traumatic for the families that we deal with, to see this happening," he added.

Previously, Mr Kesans has tried to reason with drivers, but, he said, "people just don't want to know".

"They get quite abusive sometimes."

Matthew Jones, director of Matthew L Jones Funeral Services in Carmarthen, believes there has been a change of culture and said they have come close to having an accident.

"Some people will do just anything to get past and unfortunately they either cut the hearse up or worse, they come in between the hearse and the family car, which is behind," he told Oliver Hides on the Phone In on BBC Radio Wales.

The NAFD said reports were up among its members of drivers failing to show respect for a funeral cortege.

Stopping for a cortege is a "tradition" amongst road users, it said, a "moment of dignity and respect for the deceased and their family".

Not respecting a cortege, especially those involving a horses, is also a safety issue, it added.

"We are seeing more instances where other drivers fail to show respect," said NAFD chief executive Andrew Judd.

"It's not only upsetting for the family following their loved one, but it can also be dangerous.

"Horses can be easily spooked and funeral directors who walk in front of the hearse are put at real risk.

"A little patience and understanding... shows dignity and respect in a moment that matters deeply to those who are grieving.

"People used to stand still momentarily when a hearse was passing, the days of doffing a cap sadly seem long gone."