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[HackNDos]

I just want to say, but isn't this why in some states, what your about to read, is illegal as well as we are taught in classes this should never be done?


SAN FRANCISCO -- Two San Francisco Police Department motorcycle officers were hospitalized Wednesday after crashing near Chinatown, a fire department spokeswoman said.

The crash was reported at 12:54 p.m. at California and Grant streets.

Fire Lt. Mindy Talmadge said the officers were going in the same direction up California Street, just west of Grant Avenue, when their motorcycles made contact with each other and they both went down.

Both have been transported to San Francisco General Hospital.

[hooligan]

Staggered formation ALWAYS !! Hope they are ok though.

[k9guy]

Last year while on a motorcycle trip through California I got behind a group of around 20 LA area motor officers.  They were all riding in two's next to each other in perfect unison from front to back.  Part of the group got split at a stop light.  The front group pulled over and waited for the back group until they cleared the light.  They all pulled into Paradise Cove Restaurant for lunch.  It was very impressive.  The amount of training they must go through to ride in perfect two's along with all the other precision stuff must be intense!

[JCZ]

Staggered formation ALWAYS !! Hope they are ok though.

Staggaered doesn't work in the city.  Hell, even if you're in a car there's another car trying to share the lane with you.

[Mrs Rooster]

 I compare driving in the Bay Area to shopping at Costco at Christmas time. You leave your manners at home, put your elbows out and go. 

[GregKhougaz]

Riding 2 x 2 vs. staggered:  K9guy is correct that 2 x 2 takes significantly more training, attention and communication.   According to studies conducted by various law enforcement agencies, it is ultimately safer than a staggered formation.  Still, I would not ride 2 x 2 with anyone I did not know well and would certainly not recommend it for a large group of "weekend" riders.  Most LEO groups required it for a number of reasons:  Ease of communication (hand signals) and the fact that you "look" more like a car and are thus more likely to be seen are only two.  The left hand rider of each pair is the leader and the controls the pair.  In a group, 2 x 2 makes it is easier to stay tight and thus together, especially in the city.  The obvious danger is if the front riders have to stop suddenly, there is less space but the front and rear riders should be looking out for this. 

Experienced 2 x 2 riders should not crash just because they touch "going the same direction."  I suspect something else was going on.   

[hooligan]

Well put..... We always ride staggered though. I live in a rural area. It's hard to swerve for a deer or coyote or other vermine  when riding 2x2 with no place to go, and I rarely venture into the city....I hate conjested traffic.

[VaEagle]

Maybe there is more info that what is typed in the first post?
But I read it again and it just states that the two were going in the same direction. (I don't see it as stating they were side by side or staggered or even one behind the other.) 
I do agree that riding side by side does require a high degree of skill and concentration especially in traffic. There is less room for error.

[hd-dude]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/18/BAI31CH8R2.DTL


.....San Francisco, CA—Two police officers were hurt while training for a fast motorcade escort, when they lost control of their motorcycles and collided on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. The motorcycle collision occurred around 1:00 p.m., at California Street just past Grant Avenue, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Officials have yet to determine what caused the collision, but they believe that a small rubber object that is used to hold a traffic post or pylon may have caused on officer to loose control of his motorcycle. The police officers were escorting a black Ford Expedition during the escort training session at 25-mph when the collision occurred. A witness reported seeing the motorcycles get “a little squirrely,” in which the witness thought was due to the cable car tracks. The witnesses said he then saw that the motorcycles “clipped each other… one guy flew over the handlebars. Stuff was flying off the bikes. It was a pretty bad spill.”

One officer reported sustained a leg injury, while the other officer suffered more serious upper-body injuries. They were rushed to the San Francisco general hospital in ambulances, complete with a police escort. They are both expected to fully recover.

[JCZ]

San Francisco General will patch them back up........and you all know how I'd know.

I didn't realize it while I was in there going through all the surgeries, but that's the University of Calif. hospital so they have top drawer surgeons.