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 such vehicles and the traffic upon and condition of the highway. A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
S.D. Codified Laws § 32-26-40
Following too closely--Violation as misdemeanor
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Baddou v. Hall (2008)
Most recently applied in Baddou v. Hall (September 2008)
Source: SDC 1939, § 44.0315; SL 1953, ch 231; SL 1955, ch 170; SL 1970, ch 175, § 20; SL 1989, ch 255, § 177.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.