what's the right thing?

The other morning I was getting ready to turn right at a stoplight when a funeral procession crossed in front of me. When my light turned green, the people in the procession stopped, and I was pretty sure they were supposed to keep going, even through a red light. My problem was, the procession was going down a four lane road, completely taking up one lane, but leaving the other empty.

I turned.


But it felt really weird driving next to the people with their flashing lights the policeman up front. Oncoming traffic was stopping, even though their was a middle lane. The police car did stop at several red lights, and it seemed to be following me for miles. I almost wanted to roll my window down when I was stopped next to the cop to ask what I was supposed to do. I do not remember from driver's ed what the rules are, and I don't come across them very often.

I think I should have let the whole procession go and stayed at the light, from what I can gather from the internet. Each state has different laws and talks about what people IN the procession should do: proceed through lights until the police car stops. Nothing told me what I should have done.

One person said that it is the last way we can pay respect to the dead and their families, and I get that. I do. And in the moment I was thinking about getting to where I was going. It did feel weird to pass the hearse, but there was a car behind me that was going really fast and I didn't want to stop in front of them. I feel bad about it, but wondered if anyone really knew the rules, or if there were laws governing it.