A Lenoir man was killed Friday night in a motorcycle crash along U.S. 64/N.C. 90 in eastern Caldwell County.

The crash happened around 11:20 p.m. just inside Caldwell County about a mile from the Alexander County line and claimed the life of 48-year-old Thomas John Hatfield of Creekside Place, Lenoir.

According to a report from the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Hatfield was traveling west toward Lenoir on a 2002 Kawasaki motorcycle. He had just come out of a curve in the road and entered a straight stretch, Trooper B.N. Hyatt said.

The investigation shows that Hatfield ran off the right side of the road, lost control and was ejected from the bike. Hyatt said there were skid marks of approximately 140 feet, and it appears as if Hatfield was thrown nearly 100 feet from the site where the motorcycle crashed.

“He just sort of veered off the road, and I’m not sure why,” Hyatt said. “It was a fairly straight stretch of road he was in at the time.”

Hyatt said Hatfield was a father of five children, but his family members were not sure where he had been that night.

Hyatt also indicated that speed probably was a factor in the crash, noting that evidence from the investigation revealed that Hatfield was exceeding a safe speed for the road conditions.

Little River Fire Department and Caldwell County EMS also responded to the crash.

Friday’s fatal crash was the second in as many days on a Caldwell County highway and the fourth in two weeks. A head-on collision Thursday on Morris Creek Road leading back to U.S. 64/N.C. 90 claimed the life of 38-year-old Norman Moore Jr. and left 47-year-old Linda Sanders in critical condition at Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee.

The fatality was the 15th in Caldwell County this year, and the second involving a motorcycle in the last two weeks. Jessica Ormand died in a crash Oct. 22 near Smith Crossroads when her Kawasaki motorcycle collided with a Dodge van.

Three people have died in Caldwell County this year as a result of motorcycle crashes.

Hyatt said the rash of fatal crashes in recent weeks is disturbing.

“It’s just hard to understand why they’re occurring,” he said. “I don’t know what’s happening to cause them, but the rate they’re happening is alarming.”