Va. Code » Title 46.2. Motor Vehicles » Subtitle III. Operation » Chapter 8. Regulation of Traffic » Article 1. General and Miscellaneous
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-816 (2026)

Following too closely

✓ current as of May 2026
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The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard to the speed of both vehicles and the traffic on, and conditions of, the highway at the time.

Code 1950, § 46-229; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-213; 1983, c. 248; 1989, c. 727; 2015, cc. 31, 188.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1999–2024 · leading case: David Keenan Brown v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2022).
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David Keenan Brown v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 13× “2-266 and following too closely in violation of Code § 46.2-816. Appellant appeals on the sole claim that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.”
Richetta Veronique Hammonds v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 10× “1 The trial court’s conviction order in the case numbered CR22-513 notes Hammonds’s conviction for following too closely under Code § 46.2-816. However, the trial court’s sentencing order correlates this conviction with Code § 18.”
Ronald William Wethington, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 8× “” Although the record does not reflect whether the other vehicle improperly turned in front of Wethington, the evidence adduced at the motion hearing combined with the stipulation of facts demonstrates Wethington intentionally accelerated after the other car entered the roadway,…”
Commonwealth of Virginia v. Nahom F. Beyene (Va. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 8× “” Koenigsberg followed the two vehicles in his patrol car for twenty to twenty-five seconds from a distance of three to four car lengths, approximately sixty feet behind the second vehicle.”
William Bell Lillibridge v. City of Newport News (Va. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 7× “William Bell Lillibridge (appellant) was convicted in a bench trial of a single misdemeanor count of following too closely in violation of Newport News Municipal Code § 26-8, which incorporated Code § 46.2-816. He contends that the evidence was insufficient to find that he was…”
Lyles v. Schiable (E.D. Va. 2022). · cites it 2× “Also travelling in the same direction, Defendant Schaible allegedly crashed into the rear of Plaintiff’s vehicle as a result of “cho[osing] to follow [Plaintiff’s] vehicle too closely, and not hav[ing] regard for the speed of his vehicle relative to [Plaintiff] in violation of…”
Breon Latham v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 2× “Although not immaterial to this inquiry, the trial court’s determination here that appellant violated Code § 46.2-816 does not inherently give rise to a reasonable inference that appellant was following the Johnsons’ vehicle too closely as a result of having taken zolpidem,…”
City of Chesapeake v. Evans, 91 Va. Cir. 247 (Chesapeake Cir. Ct. 2015). · cites it 3× “2-716 (how license plates fastened to vehicle/altering appearance of license plates); (9) Va. Code § 46.2-816 *259 (followingtoo closely); 1 (10) Va.”
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