O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 40-6-76 (2019)

Funeral processions

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) As used in this Code section, a ‘‘funeral procession’’ means an array of motor vehicles in which the lead vehicle displays a sign,

pennant, flag, or other insignia furnished by a funeral home indicating a funeral procession unless led by a state or local law enforcement vehicle and each vehicle participating in the funeral procession is operating its headlights. (b) Funeral processions shall have the right of way at intersections subject to the following conditions and exceptions: (1) Operators of vehicles in a funeral procession shall yield the right of way upon the approach of an authorized emergency vehicle or law enforcement vehicle giving an audible and visual signal; and (2) Operators of vehicles in a funeral procession shall yield the right of way when directed to do so by a traffic officer. (c) Funeral processions escorted by the police, a sheriff, or a sheriff’s deputy shall have the right of way in any street or highway through which they may pass. Local governments may, by ordinance, provide for such escort service and provide for the imposition of reasonable fees to defray the cost of such service. (d) The operator of a vehicle not in a funeral procession shall not interrupt a funeral procession except when authorized to do so by a traffic officer or when such vehicle is an authorized emergency vehicle or law enforcement vehicle giving an audible and visual signal. (e) Operators of vehicles not a part of a funeral procession shall not join a funeral procession by operating their headlights for the purpose of securing the right of way granted by this Code section to funeral processions. (f ) The operator of a vehicle not in a funeral procession shall not attempt to pass vehicles in a funeral procession on a two-lane highway. (g) Any person violating subsection (d), (e), or (f ) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $100.00. (h) Any law enforcement officer who is directing or escorting a funeral procession in this state, whether such service is provided while on duty or not, shall enjoy the same immunities from liability as the officer possesses while in the performance of other official duties.

History

(Code 1981, § 40-6-76, enacted by Ga. L. 1989, p. 1803, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1319, § 2; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 5.)

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Use of city owned motor vehicles for private escort service prohibited by city code. - Under a city code provision prohibiting use of city vehicles for

anything other than the city’s business, police officers were prohibited from using city owned motorcycles to provide their own private funeral escort service. Morton

v. Bell, 264 Ga. 832, 452 S.E.2d 103 (1995).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 1995–1995 · leading case: Morton v. Bell, 452 S.E.2d 103 (Ga. 1995).
Morton v. Bell, 452 S.E.2d 103 (Ga. 1995). · cites it 8× “" OCGA § 40-6-76 (h). However, an officer's entitlement to use the City's vehicles to provide such a service to the public while off-duty is determined by the rules adopted by the City in that regard.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.