North Carolina § 20-152 - Following too closely.

§ 20-152. Following too closely.

The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway. The driver of any motor vehicle traveling upon a highway outside of a business or residential district and following another motor vehicle shall, whenever conditions permit, leave sufficient space so that an overtaking vehicle may enter and occupy such space without danger, except that this shall not prevent a motor vehicle from overtaking and passing another motor vehicle. This provision shall not apply to funeral processions. Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to the driver of any non-leading commercial motor vehicle traveling in a platoon on any roadway where the Department of Transportation has by traffic ordinance authorized travel by platoon. For purposes of this subsection, the term "platoon" means a group of individual commercial motor vehicles traveling at close following distances in a unified manner through the use of an electronically interconnected braking system. History (1937, c. 407, s. 114; 1949, c. 1207, s. 4; 1973, c. 1330, s. 17; 2017-169, s. 1.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2017-169, s. 2, provides: "The Department shall submit a report on the implementation of this act to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee on or before April 1, 2018." Session Laws 2017-169, s. 3 made subsection (c) of this section as added by Session Laws 2017-169, s. 1, effective August 1, 2017, and further provides: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2017-169, s. 1, added subsection (c). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Legal Periodicals. - For article on proof of negligence in North Carolina, see 48 N.C.L. Rev. 731 (1970).