Quick answer: Following too closely is 2 points — or 3 if it contributed to an accident. The fine is modest. But here is the thing that decides these cases: the statute contains no distance at all. No car lengths, no seconds, no feet. The entire standard is whether you were “reasonable and prudent” — which means the ticket is one officer’s opinion, and an opinion can be argued with.
I’m David Waranch. Of all the routine Maryland traffic charges, this is one of the most contestable — and one people most often just pay, because it looks trivial.
If you were in a collision, it is not trivial. It may be the most expensive $90 you ever spend. I’ll come to that.
What the Law Actually Says
Here is Md. Code, Transp. § 21-310(a) in full — the whole of the general rule:
“The driver of a motor vehicle may not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of the other vehicle and of the traffic on and the condition of the highway.”
Read it again and notice what’s missing.
There is no number. No two-second rule. No three-second rule. No car lengths. No feet. Nothing you can measure and nothing you can point to.
The standard is reasonable and prudent — and it explicitly depends on the other vehicle’s speed, the traffic around you, and the condition of the road. Which means the same following distance can be perfectly lawful on an empty motorway at midday and unlawful in rain, at night, in heavy traffic.
That cuts both ways. It makes the offence easy for an officer to allege. It also makes it hard for the State to prove, because there is no objective fact for them to point at — only a judgment.
What It Costs
| Points | |
|---|---|
| Following too closely — no accident | 2 |
| Following too closely — contributed to an accident | 3 |
The fine is comparatively small. The points are the point. Eight points suspends a Maryland licence and twelve revokes it — and your insurer will see the conviction long after the fine is forgotten.
If There Was a Collision, Do Not Pay This Ticket
This is the most important section on the page and it takes ninety seconds to read.
Maryland is one of the last states applying contributory negligence. It works like this: if you are found even slightly at fault for the accident — even 1% — you recover nothing at all. Not a reduced amount. Nothing. No medical bills, no lost wages, no car.
Now consider what paying a ticket is. Paying is a guilty plea. You are formally admitting that you followed too closely in the incident that caused the collision.
The other driver’s insurance adjuster will find that. It is a public court record and they look as a matter of routine. And you will have handed them exactly what they need — often before you have even finished seeing a doctor.
People pay these tickets to make them go away quickly. It is frequently the single most expensive thing they do all year. The same trap applies to failure-to-yield tickets after a crash.
How These Tickets Fall Apart
- “Reasonable and prudent” is an opinion. How far back were you? How does the officer know? From what angle, at what distance, for how long? Was it raining? What was traffic doing? These are real questions and they rarely have crisp answers.
- The officer usually didn’t see it. Where the ticket came out of a collision, the officer arrived afterwards and is reconstructing what happened from damage and two contradictory accounts. He did not witness the following distance at all.
- “Contributing to the accident” is a separate question. Even if you were close, whether that caused the collision is a different finding — and it’s the difference between 2 points and 3.
- The other driver braked suddenly, cut in, or had no brake lights. The statute expressly requires “due regard for the speed of the other vehicle.” Their conduct is part of the standard, not an excuse outside it.
- It’s usually an add-on. Officers pile this charge on top of a speeding or unsafe-lane-change citation. That means it’s frequently the count the State cares least about — and the one most available to be dropped.
Don’t Throw It Away by Ticking the Wrong Box
Your citation offers a “guilty with an explanation” hearing. It sounds like the reasonable choice. It is a trap.
Under § 26-204(b)(2)(ii), requesting one expressly waives your right to a trial of the facts and “any right to compel the appearance of the police officer.”
Every argument above depends on being able to question the officer about what he saw. Tick that box and you’ve pled guilty and surrendered the right to make him show up at all. Request the trial. More on payable versus must-appear citations.
Two Ways This Gets Worse
Aggressive driving. Following too closely is one of the nineteen offences on the closed list in § 21-901.2. Collect three from that list in a single continuous period of driving and you’re facing an aggressive driving charge — 5 points and up to $1,000, on top of everything else. Since this charge is almost always stacked with others, that’s a live risk.
If you hold a CDL. Following too closely is a federal “serious traffic violation” (49 C.F.R. § 383.51). Two serious violations in three years is a 60-day disqualification; three is 120 days. Two tickets you’d have shrugged off as a car driver will put you out of work for two months. Commercial drivers should never pay one of these.
Related Questions
- How the Maryland point system works
- Failure to yield: points, fines, defenses
- What counts as aggressive driving in Maryland
Frequently Asked Questions
How many points is following too closely in Maryland?
2 points normally. 3 points if it contributed to an accident.
How far back am I legally required to stay?
There is no legal distance. Section 21-310 doesn’t give one. The standard is whatever is “reasonable and prudent” given the speed, the traffic and the road conditions. You’ll see two-second and three-second rules quoted everywhere — they’re sensible driving advice, but they are not the law, and no officer can cite you for breaching them.
Should I just pay it?
If there was no collision and your record is clean, two points is survivable and paying may be reasonable. If there was a collision — absolutely not. Paying is a guilty plea, and under Maryland’s contributory negligence rule an admission of any fault can destroy your own injury claim completely.
Can it be beaten?
More often than most charges, because there’s no objective measurement behind it — just an officer’s judgment, frequently formed after the fact. And because it’s usually an add-on to something else, it’s often the count that gets dropped in negotiation.
Before You Pay It
If this ticket came out of a collision, call me before you do anything with it — before you pay, and before you speak to the other driver’s insurer.
The call is free and I’ll tell you straight whether it’s worth fighting.
Toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español. More on how I defend Maryland traffic charges.
Last updated: July 2026