Even funeral processions aren't safe from rudeness

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Firefighters attacked for trying to put out fires, doctors assaulted in emergency and now even funeral processions aren't safe from the ruder elements of British life.

The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors -- which organises 60 percent of British funerals -- said its members reported increasing incidents of unsympathetic drivers cutting off hearses, weaving in between the hearse and the limousine carrying grieving family members and even making rude gestures to the occupants inside.

"There is a disregard by many road users for the sanctity of the funeral cortege," spokesman John Weir said.

"People cut up (off) the hearse or cut in between the hearse and the limousine. These are very distinctive vehicles so they must know what they are doing."

Drivers were at their worst in inner cities like London and Manchester, he said, suggesting that they might simply be frustrated by bad traffic.

"I was out a couple of weeks ago and someone gave me the two-fingered salute," he said. "I think it is representative of a lot of what is happening in modern Britain."

On Monday, firefighters complained they were coming under increasing attack as they answered emergency calls, echoing similar complaints from doctors and other professionals.

Weir said that in the worst incident, east London children in school uniforms had hurled stones at a horse-drawn hearse.