Failure to Prove Proximate Cause for Insufficient Headway Presumption

An injured party sought damages from a driver after an accident, claiming the driver failed to maintain a safe distance, but the trial court rejected the claim, finding insufficient proof that the statutory presumption of fault for insufficient headway applied because the facts did not conclusively establish a direct causal link between the failure to keep a safe distance and the resulting collision. The high court upheld the lower court's decision, reasoning that while the relevant traffic code establishes a presumption of fault for insufficient headway, that presumption requires factual evidence demonstrating that the distance violation was the proximate cause of the accident, and the lower court's finding that this causal link was not proven was a proper exercise of its fact-finding authority, thus warranting the rejection of the appeal.