Oregon · Through 2025 Edition

ORS 811.147: Failure to maintain safe distance from motor vehicle; penalty.

(1) A person operating a motor vehicle commits the offense of failure to maintain a safe distance from a motor vehicle if the person approaches a motor vehicle that is stopped and is displaying required warning lights or hazard lights, or a person is indicating distress by using emergency flares or posting emergency signs, and the person operating the motor vehicle:
      (a) On a highway having two or more lanes for traffic in a single direction, fails to:
      (A) Make a lane change to a lane not adjacent to that of the stopped motor vehicle; or
      (B) Reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to a speed that is at least five miles per hour under the speed limit established in ORS 811.111 or a designated speed posted under ORS 810.180.
      (b) On a two directional, two-lane highway, fails to reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to a speed that is at least five miles per hour under the speed limit established in ORS 811.111 or a designated speed posted under ORS 810.180.
      (2) A person is not in violation of the offense described in this section if the stopped motor vehicle is in a designated parking area.
      (3) The offense described in this section, failure to maintain a safe distance from a motor vehicle, is a Class B traffic violation.

Where this section sits in the code

19 - Utilities, Vehicle Code, Watercraft, Aviation
59. Oregon Vehicle Code
Chapter 811 — Rules of the Road for Drivers

(a) On a highway having two or more lanes for traffic in a single direction, fails to:

(A) Make a lane change to a lane not adjacent to that of the stopped motor vehicle; or

(B) Reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to a speed that is at least five miles per hour under the speed limit established in ORS 811.111 or a designated speed posted under ORS 810.180.

(b) On a two directional, two-lane highway, fails to reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to a speed that is at least five miles per hour under the speed limit established in ORS 811.111 or a designated speed posted under ORS 810.180.

(2) A person is not in violation of the offense described in this section if the stopped motor vehicle is in a designated parking area.

(3) The offense described in this section, failure to maintain a safe distance from a motor vehicle, is a Class B traffic violation.

Collected 2026-09-03T23:50:18Z. Source file · JSON

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