AI-assisted research summary: Drivers must keep a reasonable following distance; truck drivers outside business or residential areas must stay at least 400 feet behind another truck, with a passing exception; caravans, motorcades, and platoons have special spacing and approval rules.
§81. Following vehicles; exceptions A. 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 vehicle and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway. B. The driver of a motor truck, when traveling upon a highway outside a business or residential area, shall not follow another motor truck within four hundred feet, but this shall not be so construed as to prevent one motor truck from overtaking and passing another. C. Motor vehicles being driven upon any roadway outside of a business or residential area in a caravan or motorcade, whether or not towing other vehicles, shall be so operated as to allow sufficient space between each such vehicle or combination of vehicles so as to enable any other vehicle to enter and occupy such space without danger. This provision shall not apply to a funeral procession. D. A platoon may be operated pursuant to this Section if the platoon operator has an operational plan approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police, and the Department of Transportation and Development. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police, and the Department of Transportation and Development may promulgate rules as necessary to implement the provisions of this Subsection. E. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the operation of a non-lead motor vehicle in a platoon. F. The operation of a platoon shall not be authorized on a two-lane highway. Acts 1962, No. 310, §1; Acts 2018, No. 310, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019.