[Redbones]

I passed a group of riders today, riding side by side. About two hours later I heard about a crash in my town.
No real details yet but 6 transported and 3 airlifted.

Very depressing day.

I live in the Adirondack Mountains, these roads are very twisty and narrow. BUT riders STILL riders want to ride side by side.
I ride these roads all the time with my friends and we NEVER ride side by side. It's way too narrow and twisty.
If someone makes a mistake there is no room to recover.

Sometimes I think that groups think it's "cool" to ride like that but to me it's just an accident waiting to happen.... and it looks like it did today.
We're praying everyone survived.

PLEASE RIDE SAFE, not cool.

 

[Arizona16]

Sometimes I think that groups think it's "cool" to ride like that but to me it's just an accident waiting to happen....

Nailed it. ?

 

[jettawreck]

Yep, very foolish. And most of the time those are ones not wearing appropriate riding gear either.

 

[ThunderBolt]

As an old Moto Crosser I can ally speak to the side by side, one goes down a whole bunch go down. At least you have the gear for protection but some get hurt. Don't ride that way and won't ride with anyone that rides that way. Always be safe!

 

[Arizona16]

I still don’t get why cops do it. ?. Those guys get some pretty intense training! ?

 

[Destindoc]

Cops do it because it looks cool... bottom line. No one should ride like this, but, people do. It does cause accidents. I don't know but I suspect the folks who ran into that truck up North driven by the Russian guy were riding in tight formation, likely side by side. That's why so many ran into him. Few years back, a group of guys riding in a construction zone got hit by a drunk kid in a truck, all four died. They were riding I suspect in a tight formation, side by side.

When my wife and I ride, we are not only staggered significantly, but she usually rides 50-100 yards behind me... if not more. Even at a stop light she stays a motorcycle's length behind me usually.

Motorcycling........ it's as safe as you make it...........

 

[-Hairball-]

Cops do it because it looks cool... bottom line.

No, they do it for increased visability, officer safety, enhanced communication between riders, and because they are trained to ride side-by-side and practice this type of riding all the time. CHP out here always ride that way if they are not alone and they must go through qualifying road tests a few times a year. CHP has an impressive safety record for bikes so they are doing something right.

 

[Dan18960]

Sad to hear about the Adirondack Mountains incident and glad it was not a repeat of the New Hampshire accident.

As for side by side riding, there are those who practice, practice, practice the maneuver and would never ride in that manner with some one who was not proficient in riding side by side. That is very true of the officers who you see doing it. Also there are drill teams that not only ride side by side but do many crossovers and weaving riding - again they practice practice practice these maneuvers with each other for hours upon hours upon hours.

So just because you are not practicing side by side riding or other maneuvers, don't always pre-judge some of those you see doing it.

As for the New Hampshire accident - they were within 500 FEET of their hotel and (this is only an OPINION since there has been no follow-up that I have seen) they were slowing down to enter. ANYONE who had done group riding and rides staggered and maintains the 2 second rule knows that as you slow the distance between bikes reduces even with the 2 seconds. Even a couple of motorcycle lengths could have been too close in that accident...

 

[NCBirdMan]

As best I can determine riding two abreast in only illegal in Vermont. The link below is a chart of state laws.


https://edwardsmotorcyclelaw.com/motorcycle-law/


NCBirdMan

 

[OldAge]

According to today's paper the accident was caused by a sidehack failing to make a curve and running into other bikes going the other way. Also paper said 4 injured and 2 helicopters used. Never the less, this road is near me and I ride it all the time. Nice sweeping curves but they can bite you if not careful. No other details but I would think a sidecar would be a handful on this road.

 

[philipintexas]

I’ve noticed “Groups” out west and Canada riding in huge “Packs” staggered so no one can pass safely. I think it’s just a passive aggressive way to be an A--H---.

 

[MountainRider]

I’ve noticed “Groups” out west and Canada riding in huge “Packs” staggered so no one can pass safely. I think it’s just a passive aggressive way to be an A--H---.

Really? Some of us "PACK" riders out West actually ride staggered so we have some place to escape rather than into the bike next to us when some, as you say, A--H--- tries to run over us. Most of us actually allow a passing vehicle in if oncoming traffic becomes an issue and ride in the right lane when in a passing zone. We don't do it to be that way, we do it to be alive at the end of our ride. Riding staggered allows us the same space as a car, front to back and side to side, which gives us room to move if someone invades our bubble, that's all.

 

[Offcenter]

Waaay back in 1973, my brother and I were riding side by side so we could yell back and forth.
(no two way radio back then)
We both turned our heads to look at another bike that crossed in front of us and bang!
We tangled handlebars and went down at about 50 mph.
We rode the bikes home, then spent a couple of weeks recovering from the
road rash.
That was the LAST time I rode side by side with anyone.

 

[Hoopdc]

I passed a group of riders today, riding side by side. About two hours later I heard about a crash in my town.
No real details yet but 6 transported and 3 airlifted.

Very depressing day.

I live in the Adirondack Mountains, these roads are very twisty and narrow. BUT riders STILL riders want to ride side by side.
I ride these roads all the time with my friends and we NEVER ride side by side. It's way too narrow and twisty.
If someone makes a mistake there is no room to recover.

Sometimes I think that groups think it's "cool" to ride like that but to me it's just an accident waiting to happen.... and it looks like it did today.
We're praying everyone survived.

PLEASE RIDE SAFE, not cool.

Some may want to sugar-coat this. I don't. Bottom line................ there are people that never grow up. That's just a fact of life. Of course. One doesn't need a course/have training etc. to realize, OBVIOUSLY, that riding side by side is just stupid. Period. Who would want to do that ?? The answer.............children. It's looks cool, look at us, we're 'brothers', etc. Just stupid childish idiots.
E I am NOT at all happy with whatever happened to the riders. But, I'm WAAAAY more concerned for the people AROUND these children. THEY don't have a choice because of the CHOICES of the children. Yes.

 

[Kiwi]

I’ve noticed “Groups” out west and Canada riding in huge “Packs” staggered so no one can pass safely. I think it’s just a passive aggressive way to be an A--H---.

So how, in your opinion should they position their bikes, so as not to be "passive aggressive way to be an A--H---"?

 

[Redbones]

Last report from the accident in Hague NY.

All survived. Thank goodness.
8 transported , 3 airlifted.
1 rider had to have leg amputated at thigh.
1 broken pelvis and multiple broken ankles, wrists, feet, ect.

As was mentioned, a bike with a sidecar failed to make a turn coming down Graphite Mtn. Rd. and crossed into the group going up.

I went for a ride today with 6 other bikes. We stayed 50 - 100 feet apart, single line.
We are fortunate enough to be able to do that with the lightly travelled back roads up here. I realize that many don't have that option in more congested areas.

Ride safe everyone.

 

[wing-renter]

Last report from the accident in Hague NY.

All survived. Thank goodness.
8 transported , 3 airlifted.
1 rider had to have leg amputated at thigh.
1 broken pelvis and multiple broken ankles, wrists, feet, ect.

As was mentioned, a bike with a sidecar failed to make a turn coming down Graphite Mtn. Rd. and crossed into the group going up.

I went for a ride today with 6 other bikes. We stayed 50 - 100 feet apart, single line.
We are fortunate enough to be able to do that with the lightly travelled back roads up here. I realize that many don't have that option in more congested areas.

Ride safe everyone.

So this thread is pointless as the positioning of the bikes had nothing to do with their having a wrong-way rider crashing into them head-on.

So many judgements against cops pairs-riding. Yeah, that's what the cops call it and that's how they ride because they are that good. Untrained riders should avoid it. Come to think of it, how many of the motorcycle riders out there have any real training? Slim to none would be my guess.

When I bought my Goldwing and drove it for almost 8 years I had no formal training as none was offered by the dealer. When I bought my Harley the dealer offered a free course on group riding with a ride at the end to test our new skills. But then the Harley dealer sponsors many group rides while the Honda dealer, sadly, went out of business.

 

[2WheelNut]

Personally.... if a 2 second following distance makes sense for cars, it makes sense for bikes.


Ride in whatever group you need to, just leave 2 seconds between you and the bike in front. This allows people to pass the group without having to pass all of you at once.


As far as tight groups being safer....that's total garbage IMO. I've never had a crazy impatient car have to do something crazy aggressive to get around groups I ride in because we leave space for them to pass us a bike at a time. When you only give an option to pass 10 bikes at once, don't be surprised when drivers get pretty desperate and aggressive to make that happen. You've done it to yourself. You left them the option of staying behind you stuck at your pace or being aggressive to go the pace they want to go. Given that choice, there are a lot of drivers out there that will pass you at 100 MPH plus if they have to just to get by.



PS... the side by side thing might can be done "safely" by practicing it but it will NEVER be as safe as riding with 2 seconds in between. When you ride side by side, it's impossible to ride your own ride. When you are 2 seconds back, you ride your own ride and have the entire lane to take evasive action if needed. I'm not saying that there aren't advantages in riding side by side for highway patrol officers or others, but the advantage isn't rider safety. If safety is the concern, take your entire lane and leave a space cushion all the way around for escape.

 

[2WheelNut]

So this thread is pointless as the positioning of the bikes had nothing to do with their having a wrong-way rider crashing into them head-on.

So many judgements against cops pairs-riding. Yeah, that's what the cops call it and that's how they ride because they are that good. Untrained riders should avoid it. Come to think of it, how many of the motorcycle riders out there have any real training? Slim to none would be my guess.

When I bought my Goldwing and drove it for almost 8 years I had no formal training as none was offered by the dealer. When I bought my Harley the dealer offered a free course on group riding with a ride at the end to test our new skills. But then the Harley dealer sponsors many group rides while the Honda dealer, sadly, went out of business.

8 bikes riding 2 seconds apart would be spread out by 16 seconds. One bike with a sidecar crossing the center line might have taken out one or two, maybe even 3 but not all 8. All 8 went down because they were all together in too tight of a formation to react and escape.


In my opinion, the positioning of the riders was why over half of them crashed so I'd say it was relevant.


As far as training...I'm all for it....but if they train you to ride in tight formations....it would be better to be untrained.

 

[UNCLEJOHN]

I still don’t get why cops do it. ?. Those guys get some pretty intense training! ?

I AGREE !! I'M SURE IF YA ASK OTHERS THAT DO IT " COPS DO IT SO MUST BE OK " ! SOMETIMES I HAVE TROUBLE "RIDING " WITH OTHERS :grin2::wink2::serious: LET ALONE SIDE BY SIDE !