[ClearCase_guy]

I should probably say nothing, since I know so little about these things. And I am very sympathetic to your friend's plight. However ...

Any contact between a "car in front" and a "car behind" might (possibly) be seen as cold hard proof that the "car behind" was at an unsafe distance. Had your friend been 2 miles back, no contact would have been made. So 2 miles was a safe distance. The actual distance in the case you are citing might well be seen as "unsafe" on its face.

Not trying to be a jerk, but courts are often pretty literal-minded.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Any contact between a "car in front" and a "car behind" might be seen as cold hard proof that the "car behind" was at an unsafe distance

. . . then there was the story of the driver who got rear-ended, and smugly watched as the officer questioned the other driver.

The officer said, "How fast was this fool backing up when he hit you, judge?"