A. Powers And Authority Of Funeral Escort Officers: Funeral escort officers are empowered to escort funeral processions from funeral homes, mortuaries, residences or other places where the last services are held, to the place of interment, and to redirect traffic at intersections during escorts in the City of Colorado Springs.
B. Escort Vehicles: Each funeral procession shall be accompanied by escorts, and the escorts shall be considered emergency vehicles within the meaning of this chapter, subject however to the provisions under State law as to qualification of emergency vehicles. The number of escort vehicles accompanying any procession shall be not less than three (3).
C. Use Of Flashing Lights Required: All funeral escort vehicles shall display flashing lights while in a funeral procession.
D. Notification Required: A minimum of two (2) hours prior to conducting a funeral escort in the City of Colorado Springs, a funeral escort agency shall notify the Colorado Springs Police Department Communications Center via facsimile of any funeral procession escorts. The notification shall include: the time and date of the funeral escort, the beginning location, the destination, the approximate number of vehicles being escorted and the proposed route if known at the time of notification.
E. Right Of Way Generally:
1. Each vehicle of a funeral procession, when identified with lighted headlamps, and each escort vehicle, when identified by the operation of red overhead emergency lights, may proceed regardless of official traffic control devices, and shall have the right of way over any other vehicle, and the operator of any other vehicle shall yield the right of way regardless of traffic directions displayed on an official traffic control device. This provision shall not apply at an intersection controlled by a police officer.
2. At no time will a procession proceed through a red light or operate contrary to any traffic control device unless by the direction of a funeral escort officer or police officer.
3. Every procession shall proceed at speeds within the existing speed limits governing and presently in force, consistent with traffic conditions, and the funeral escort officer may, if in the officer's best judgment, reduce this speed or bring the procession to a complete stop.
4. Each driver in a funeral or other authorized procession shall maintain lighted headlamps and shall follow the vehicle ahead as close as practicable for safe operation.
5. Funeral processions shall yield to other authorized emergency vehicles.
6. Each driver in a funeral procession shall drive as near to the right hand edge of the roadway as practicable and shall follow the vehicle ahead as closely as is practicable and safe.
7. No driver of a vehicle shall drive between or join the vehicles comprising a funeral procession while the vehicles are in motion and when the vehicles are conspicuously designated as required in this section. This provision shall not apply at intersections where traffic is controlled by police officers. (Ord. 88-244; Ord. 92-27; Ord. 01-42; Ord. 11-19; Ord. 11-23; Ord. 14-32)