A blue Scion SUV was travelling westbound on Valley View Road and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle was traveling northbound on Manchaca Road at about 12:45 when the wreck took place.  The driver of the Scion failed to yield the right of way from a stop sign and attempted to turn left onto Manchaca Road.  The Scion pulled in front of the motorcycle, which then T-boned the Scion.

The driver of the motorcycle was pronounced dead at University Medical Center Brackenridge two hours after the accident.

The fatality is Austin’s 33rd traffic-related one this year.

The rally, the fifth-largest event of its type in the nation, expects to attract 200,000 people police Chief Art Acevedo said.

Motorcycle fatalities accounted for 27 percent of all roadway fatalities last year in Austin, which is higher than the national average of 13 percent, according to police.

Austin police recorded 18 motorcycle fatalities in 2008, more than double the eight recorded in 2007.  In January, police said that the increase in fatalities was partly because of the nearly $4-per-gallon summer gas prices, which led many inexperienced drivers to switch to motorcycles.

So far this year, there have been nine fatalities and no fatalities occured last year duing the biker rally.