10-05-2025
Why We Should All Pull Over For Funeral Processions
I have vivid memories of being in the back seat of my grandparents' car in Decatur, Alabama, as an elementary school student, watching my grandmother pull off the road as a long line of cars drove by. With two wheels on the road and two wheels on the grass, she turned the ignition off—it was a long one—and we waited for every car in the queue to roll past, ending with a large black hearse.
"Why are we stopped, Nonnie?" I asked her.
"This is a funeral procession, and we're paying our respects to this family," she explained.
Decatur wasn't terribly small, but it wasn't a metropolis, either. At about 60,000 in the early 2000s, it was pretty close to the epitome of a Southern city: bustling with young people but still firmly entrenched in the traditions of the Deep South.
I know I'm not alone in having had this seminal Southern experience. But why do we do this in the first place?
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The laws are different in each state, but typically a funeral procession includes two or more vehicles accompanying the remains of a deceased person to a religious building or graveside service, usually led by a member of law enforcement in an official vehicle with its flashing lights on.
The tradition of the funeral procession actually dates back to Ancient Egypt (maybe even earlier!), and spans throughout the Greco-Roman empire, the medieval age, the Renaissance, and continues to modern day. In each iteration, the body of the deceased was pulled by livestock or carried by boat while mourners performed rituals to honor their lives and, in some cultures, to encourage safe passage for the spirit into the afterlife. Mourners would walk alongside the body and celebrate the departed's life with odes, art, eulogies, and tears.
Today, our processions-by-car aren't quite as beautiful (with the notable exception being a New Orleans second line, an on-foot celebration of life including music and dancing to honor the dead), but they still gin up respect and deference from passersby."Pulling over for a funeral procession serves as a reminder that life is short; even if we're feeling rushed or are late for an appointment, we can theoretically zoom out to see the bigger picture."Though the tradition does exist beyond the South, it's nowhere near as prevalent as it is in what we commonly refer to as the Deep South: Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, and the Carolinas. Typically in those states, if a funeral procession passes, drivers (especially those traveling the same direction) will pull to the side of the road for a couple of reasons.
First, it shows respect to the grieving family. We slow down our own lives and press "pause" on our busy days, our errands, and routines, to show solidarity with the members of our community who are grieving. Pulling over for a funeral procession serves as a reminder that life is short; even if we're feeling rushed or are late for an appointment, we can theoretically zoom out to see the bigger picture.
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Secondly, and more practically, it allows the funeral procession to go on uninterrupted. By stopping as it passes, we allow for every car in the procession to stay together as a unit instead of risking that an unwitting traveler will accidentally turn into the procession and become part of it by mistake. For this solemn occasion, pulling over signals to the drivers in the procession that their fellow motorists are holding the line for them to remain grouped together.
It depends on where you live. In North Carolina (the state I'm writing this piece from), drivers are not required to pull over if they're traveling in the opposite direction. While you're not legally required to pull over for a funeral procession traveling in same direction, the state encourages drivers who wish to pull over to pull completely off the road to allow the procession to pass without having to change lanes. However, it is illegal to try to pass, merge, or break into the procession in any way.
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Though it may not be the official law of the land, it is most certainly a courteous and thoughtful gesture to pull over as a funeral procession passes by. We live in such a fast-paced world, and with so many conveniences and shortcuts at our fingertips, slowing our lives down to honor that someone's loved one has left this mortal coil is a lovely way to remind ourselves that we're all in this together. Whether we know each other or not, we can all understand what it's like to grieve. By physically stopping our cars, we figuratively show our neighbors that we wish to honor the experience they're having, even even the busyness of our own lives.
Read the original article on Southern Living
