Highway Traffic Act section 158:

The driver of a motor vehicle or street car shall not follow another vehicle or street car more closely than is reasonable and prudent having due regard for the speed of the vehicle and the traffic on and the conditions of the highway.

Although not giving an actual defintion of what is too close to another motor vehicle, police officer and the courts in general us a measurement of one car length for every ten km/h of speed.

The definition of reasonable and prudent having due regard for the speed of the vehicle is open to interpretation by the court.

The charge of following too closely can have up to five (5) penalties.

• A fine of 110 dollars, and up to 500 dollars
• four (4) demerit points
• Thirty (30) day licence suspension for G1, G2, M1 and M2 drivers
• A conviction stays on your driving record for 3 years
• Can affect your insurance rates
• Most police officers go by the belief that for every 10km/h in speed you should be at least one (1) car length behind.

When traveling at 60km/h the police believe you should be about six (6) car lengths behind the vehicle in front.

Most commonly we see the charge of Following too Closely laid by the police where the officer has observed the vehicle on a highway tailgating another vehicle.

Highway Traffic Act section 158 further states that:

The driver of a commercial motor vehicle when driving on a highway at a speed exceeding 60 kilometres per hour shall not follow within 60 metres of another motor vehicle, but this shall not be construed to prevent a commercial motor vehicle overtaking and passing another motor vehicle

Commercial vehicles as defined by the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) on highways with a speed over 60km/h must at all times keep a distance of 60 metres from other traffic.  A commercial vehicle may while passing another vehicle follow closer.

Many times after investigating a rear end type accident, the police officer will charge the driver with following too closely.

In a charge of following to closely, a witness must testify before the court that they saw two (2) things:

• the vehicle was following over a distance the vehicle, and
• during that period of following, the vehicle was too close

If you received a following too closely traffic ticket as a result of a rear end accident, then you need to fight it as it is probably the wrong charge for the situation.  Usually what happens in rear end accidents is someone stops and the other driver was unable to stop fast enough without hitting the other vehicle.

Subsequently with proper cross-examination we have many times been able to disprove the evidence of the “following” prior to the accident.