A New Martinsville man died Friday after he crashed his motorcycle into a tractor-trailer.

Darrel Ballard, 62, died in a two-vehicle accident at 2:27 a.m. on state Route 7 about eight miles east of New Martinsville, said Wetzel County Sheriff James Hoskins.

He said the preliminary investigation indicates Ballard’s 1997 Kawasaki motorcycle traveled left-of-center before striking the tractor-trailer head on. Hoskins said a Wetzel County emergency medical squad responded, and members pronounced Ballard dead at the scene.

Hoskins said Ballard was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The name of the tractor-trailer driver was not available, but Hoskins said the man was not injured or transported to a hospital for observation.

The sheriff said the case is still under investigation by deputies E.M. Daugherty and Randy Adams. The Wetzel County Sheriff’s Department is awaiting toxicology results.

“It’s a tragic accident,” Hoskins said.