Following Too Closely in Virginia: The Fine and the Points

The following too closely fine in Virginia is up to $250, plus court costs. The offense section, Va. Code § 46.2-816, sets no fine at all, so the amount comes from the default rule in Va. Code § 46.2-113: a Title 46.2 violation is a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than that provided for a Class 4 misdemeanor under § 18.2-11, which is $250. A conviction carries 4 DMV demerit points for three years.

What the fine for following too closely is, and where it comes from

Looking for a price next to § 46.2-816 is the single most common mistake made about this charge. There is no figure in the section — and there is no figure in most of Title 46.2 either. Virginia writes one default and applies it to everything that is silent.

	Following too closely
Section	Va. Code § 46.2-816
Classification	Traffic infraction
Maximum fine	$250 — the Title 46.2 default
Court costs	A fixed $51 (§ 16.1-69.48:1 D)
Demerit points	4 points, 3 years on the record
Jail	None

The $250 is a ceiling, not a price list. The general district court fixes the actual fine somewhere below it, and court costs are assessed separately on a conviction whatever the fine turns out to be — Va. Code § 16.1-69.48:1 D fixes them at $51 in a traffic infraction, so the worst case out of pocket is $301. A few Virginia sections do override the default with their own number. Failure to maintain lane is a flat $100 under § 46.2-804. A signal violation runs to $350 under § 46.2-833. Section 46.2-816 is not one of them.

What § 46.2-816 actually says

The entire section is one sentence:

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.

Read what is missing. There is no stated distance, no car-length rule, and no two-second rule anywhere in the Code of Virginia. The “two-second rule” is driver-education guidance, not law, and a driver cannot violate it because it does not exist as a legal standard.

What the statute sets instead is a standard the Commonwealth has to prove in the circumstances: whether the following distance was reasonable and prudent having due regard to three named things —

1. the speed of both vehicles,
2. the traffic on the highway at the time, and
3. the condition of the highway at the time.

That is a comparative test, and it is why the same gap can be lawful on an empty, dry interstate and unlawful in wet stop-and-go traffic.

Demerit points and the record

The DMV assesses 4 demerit points for following too closely, and the conviction stays on the Virginia driving record for 3 years. Points are assigned by the DMV once the conviction is reported, not by the judge, and they have no relationship to the size of the fine.

Four points is the same assessment Virginia makes for a failure to yield right-of-way and for a signal violation, and one more than a highway sign charge or a handheld phone conviction. Where those points matter is in combination — Virginia’s demerit point table shows how a record accumulates them.

Is following too closely a misdemeanor in Virginia?

No. Va. Code § 18.2-8 makes traffic infractions a category apart: violations of public order that are not deemed to be criminal in nature. Section 46.2-816 creates an infraction, and nothing in it provides for jail.

The charge can be upgraded, but only by the driving. Reckless driving under Article 7 of Chapter 8 is a Class 1 misdemeanor and reaches driving that endangers life, limb or property, and a tailgating charge that is pushed that far becomes a criminal matter rather than a ticket. Running the other way, where a driver is charged with reckless driving and the degree of culpability is slight, Va. Code § 46.2-869 lets the court find him guilty of improper driving instead — a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $500 — and lets the Commonwealth’s attorney make the same reduction before the court decides.

Following too closely after a rear-end collision

Most of these summonses are written at the roadside after a rear-end crash, and the charge and the crash are separate questions. The statute forbids following more closely than is reasonable and prudent; it does not say that a rear-end collision proves it. An officer who arrives afterwards did not see the following distance, the speeds or the traffic, and a case built only on the damage has a gap in it.

Three facts tend to do the work in court:

• What the vehicle in front did. The section measures the distance against the speed of both vehicles. A driver who braked hard for a turn he had not signalled, or stopped where no stop was expected, changes the comparison.
• Conditions at the time. Rain, ice, glare, a queue forming over a crest — the statute names the condition of the highway as part of the test.
• Whether anyone measured anything. There is no distance in the statute for the Commonwealth to prove, but there is a standard, and an officer’s estimate of a gap he did not see is not evidence of much.

One related section is worth knowing about: Va. Code § 46.2-842 puts a duty on the overtaken driver too. He must give way to the right in favour of the overtaking vehicle and may not increase his speed until he has been completely passed. A driver who accelerates to prevent a pass is not blameless in law, and the same is true of an improper pass that cuts back in too early.

Prepaying, and what it gives up

Where the court allows a ticket to be paid in advance, paying it is a conviction. The fine and costs are paid, the court reports the result, and the DMV adds the four points for three years. On a clean record that is often a rational trade for a morning in court.

On a record already carrying points from a sign or signal charge, it is an expensive one, and it gives up every argument above at the same time. What this page describes is the law and what the statute requires; a Virginia traffic attorney can say what a particular summons and a particular record are worth, and the general district court named on the ticket is the court that decides it.