Charter Bus Crash Shuts Down Highway 99 in Ripon, Minor Injuries Reported

California’s following-too-closely law (Vehicle Code 21703) requires drivers to keep enough distance to stop safely, a rule that becomes critical when a large commercial vehicle like a charter bus shares the road with passenger cars. Violations of this statute are a common contributing factor in chain-reaction and multi-vehicle freeway crashes. If evidence shows a driver failed to maintain a safe following distance, that finding can support a negligence claim in a resulting personal injury case.

California’s basic speed law (Vehicle Code 22350) prohibits driving at a speed greater than is safe for current conditions, regardless of the posted limit. On a busy freeway corridor like Highway 99, traveling too fast for traffic, weather, or visibility conditions can turn a routine commute into a multi-vehicle collision. Investigators often look at speed as a factor when reconstructing how a crash involving several vehicles unfolded.