I've learned that its fruitless to question the resulting consequences of my own actions and if one is guilty=accept the consequences

sounds like these were involved in your situation:
>tail gating
>violating speed limit law(s)
>operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner
>operating a vehicle in an aggressive and/or discourteous manner

The legal and possible real-life consequences are clear for:
>violating the posted speed limit
>violating California Vehicle Codes
>injury to yourself & other people
> (-) financial
> (-) property
> (-) insurance

I'd suggest becoming intimately versed in CA Vehicle Code and then pondering your inquiry posted here....(from a practical vs. legal perspective) and possibly expand the exercise to comprehensively re-think about the way you operate a vehicle- - perhaps you will make different choices and have different (better) consequences occur?

If you hold a valid CA Driver's Liscense, you've (among other things) acknowledged your knowledge of these laws....and it is here where you will have a formal resource to apply to this situation.

fyi-
>California's Basic Speed Law overrides the Maximum Posted Speed limit; in other words, you may be cited for speeding even if your vehicle's speed is below the Maximum Posted Speed Limit
>Aftermarket tint on vehicle windows is not (blanket) illegal- review the law for explicit details (on-line/ hardcopy)
>In traffic court, a judge will most likely lean toward/honor a law enforcement professional's "opinion" based upon mere observation vs. a layperson's...key here is 'trained professional'- CHP is trained to enforce the law and their observations hold merit
>if you admit to be guilty of speeding to a law enforcement officer, it is easier for the officer to document the violation based upon this acknowledgement (all else being equal)
>if you following another vehicle at highway speed with less than a car length in front of you, it is illegal and unsafe (unsafe based on the fact that the one car length does >your 5ft< does not allow sufficient reaction time to avoid a rear end collision btw- cars are longer than 5ft so you got lucky

all in all, if you learn from this situation, perhaps you will operate a vehicle in a manner that will keep us all safe and sane on the roadways

best regards
-fad