Two men killed in a motorcycle crash in Petaluma on Sunday afternoon have been identified by police as 36-year-old Richard Wilton and 31-year-old Michael "Seamus" Taylor.
Wilton and Taylor were both riding a motorcycle that crashed into a guardrail on Magnolia Avenue near Gossage Avenue, according to police and fire officials.
Firefighters found the pair pinned beneath the guardrail at a point where Magnolia makes a 90-degree turn, police said.
Wilton, a Vallejo resident who was driving the motorcycle, appeared to have died on impact. Taylor, a Petaluma resident who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was badly injured and was pronounced dead as he was being transported to a nearby hospital, according to fire officials.
Both men were wearing their helmets. An initial investigation and witness reports indicate that speed was a factor in the crash, police said.
The deaths are Petaluma's second and third traffic fatalities of 2012. There had not been a traffic fatality in the city in the previous four years, according to police.
2 Victims in Fatal Motorcycle Crash Identified
Firefighters found the pair pinned beneath a guardrail after crashing in Petaluma on Sunday.
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