Right-of-way and intersections
A funeral procession led by a traffic officer is crossing the intersection ahead of you. What are you required to do?
- Wait for the whole procession to pass; it has the right-of-way. Correct answer
- Go when your traffic signal turns green, which gives you the right-of-way over it.
- Pull to the right edge of the road and stop until the procession has passed.
Why
A funeral procession is led by a traffic officer and holds the right-of-way as one unit, so you wait for all of it rather than for a gap in it, and you can be ticketed for interrupting one. A green light does not change that: the handbook already tells you that a green light still requires you to stop for any vehicle in the intersection, and that you should not enter if you cannot get completely across. Pulling to the right edge and stopping is a different rule, the one for an emergency vehicle running its siren and red lights; a procession does not ask you to leave the road, only to stay out of it. You can recognize the vehicles taking part by their windshield markers and their headlights on.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Wait for the whole procession to pass; it has the right-of-way.
The rule behind this one
Right of way in California: who goes first goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on right-of-way and intersections
- A fire engine ahead of you has its siren and flashing lights on. How close behind it may you legally drive?
- A tow truck is stopped on the shoulder ahead of you with its amber warning lights flashing. What does the law require of you?
- A person on a skateboard is crossing the street ahead of you. Under California right-of-way rules, how is that person treated?
- The car in the lane beside you has stopped at a crosswalk. Your light is green and your own lane looks clear. What should you do?