People mix this up with tailgating, but they are not exactly the same. Tailgating is the everyday word for riding someone's bumper. Following too closely is the legal version: driving behind another vehicle at a distance that is not reasonable and prudent for the speed, traffic, and road conditions. Tailgating usually suggests aggressive driving; following too closely can be aggressive, careless, distracted, or just plain stupid. Either way, the problem is the same: there is not enough space to stop safely.

In Kentucky, that matters because rear-end crashes are often blamed on the trailing driver, and for good reason. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 189.340 requires a driver not to follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, taking account of speed and highway conditions. On I-75 through Laurel and Rockcastle counties, mountain fog and steep grades can turn a "normal" gap into a crash in seconds. The same goes for ice storms in the Bluegrass region and coal truck traffic on US-23 in Pike County.

For an injury claim, this violation can be powerful evidence of negligence, but carriers still fight it. They will say the lead driver "stopped short," had bad brake lights, or caused a chain reaction. A citation helps, but it does not end the argument. In Kentucky's comparative fault system, an insurer may try to shift part of the blame to cut what it pays.