UNION – Speed is to blame in the death of an Aulander man who lost his life here late Sunday morning in a motorcycle accident.

NC Highway Patrol Trooper J.K. Jones reported that Lloyd Hunt, 60, of 106 Felman Lane, died at the scene of the one vehicle mishap on NC 461 near the Union Volunteer Fire Department.

Hunt was operating a 2008 Suzuki motorcycle east on NC 461 at which time the bike ran off the right side of the road and struck a culvert, which caused the driver to be ejected into the roadway.

“Speed was a contributing factor in the accident,” said Jones who investigated the mishap.

The traffic fatality was the fifth of the year in the Highway Patrol’s Troop A/District II area which encompasses Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties.