Infraction - Failure to Maintain a Reasonable Distance (14-240)

[TheLastJedi]

I was at fault (I accept I am at fault) in a fender bender a couple days back. The cop gave me an Infraction (Complaint) ticket for Failure to Drive a Reasonable Distance. I want to fight this ticket because I feel the accident happened despite me maintaining a reasonable distance. Traffic abruptly stopped in the middle left lane on a four lane highway due to a backed-up exit. Traffic in the other three lanes was moving normally so it was very difficult to foresee the sudden stop in just my lane. I was not speeding either.

The main reason I want to fight the ticket is not the money, but I don't want it on my driving record for insurance companies. Do you think I have a viable case if I can show the judge the circumstances?

Also, the cop did not witness the accident (I don't have any witnesses apart from my friend who was in the car in front of me who I hit) - can I use that as a defense as well?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[disagreeable]

You are supposed to maintain a following distance that will allow you to enough time to safely see, evaluate and respond to, actions of the vehicle in front of you. Your failure to do so, indicates you failed to keep a reasonable distance between the vehicles.

 

[mightymoose]

The situation you describe supports the citation. You can look into taking a traffic school class to keep this off your record, but will still have to pay the fine.