Not Quite Ambulance Chasing, But. . .

I was driving today and got caught behind a funeral procession. One minute earlier and I'd have been fine. As it was, I crested the hill as the cops blocked both lanes, and I had to wait for the entire procession to pull out and make its painfully slow way down the road.

So I'm following the procession, noticing how they get to ignore red lights, and it occurs to me, what if I put on my emergency flashers like them? Just pretend to be part of the procession?

Before you get horrified and/or offended, I didn't do it. I wasn't even thinking about it in terms of my getting to ignore traffic lights. I was thinking of what would happen if the cops figured it out. They recognize my car as one of the ones waiting for the procession, or they spot me turning my flashers off when our paths diverge.

Do they pull me over and give me a ticket? Settle for giving me the stink eye? Throw me in jail for a night? What's the charge? Impersonating the bereaved?

It didn't come to anything. I had places to go, and wasn't inclined to tempt fate by messing with the police. But my brain needed something to keep busy after 5+ hours in the car, and muttering, "Now I know how Buford T. Justice felt," wasn't cutting it.