A man is dead after his motorcycle slammed into the passenger side of a car in downtown Edmonton Sunday.

The collision happened when a car was making a right-hand turn around 10 a.m. into the Rosie's Bar and Grill at 101 Street and 106 Avenue.

Witness Lenhard Busch said the driver was barely clinging to life after the crash.

"I seen him skidding and the I heard the impact and I came running over here, I seen the guy laying on the ground," he said. "It's just horrible, horrible seeing something like that."

The driver, a man in his 30s, was rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital with serious head injuries and was later pronounced dead.

Police said the motorcycle was travelling north and trying to make a left-hand turn when the crash occurred.

"It seems that speed was a factor," Const. Troy Forester said. "We've talked to several witnesses who've offered information to corroborate that."

Witnesses also told police they saw the motorcycle driving erratically just moments before the crash.

A 78-year-old man was driving the car. An elderly woman riding in the passenger side of the car was also taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

The Alberta Motor Association said the two-wheel vehicles are more dangerous than other cars on the road because of their low-crash protection and ability to go high speeds.

Between 1997 and 2001, an average of 562 people in Alberta died every year in motorcycle crashes.

Experts said the statistics are particularly alarming because many Albertans only ride their motorcycles about six months of the year.

Motorcycle training instructor Gary Stroich said each driver has to properly read traffic and position themselves inside a lane to avoid a potentially fatal accident.

"Motorcycling is really about risk management," he said. "In a lot of ways it's about the gear you choose, it's about how you ride your motorcycle, it's about the training that you get."

Driver Ann McLeod said it's not only motorcyclists that must be careful on the road.

"Please be careful, watch out for us, we're new to the road," she said.

The identity of the man has not been released.