A New Castle man was killed early Sunday when he crashed his motorcycle on Route 422 in Muddy Creek Township, authorities said.

State police said they suspect Joseph Kerr, 50, was driving under the influence of alcohol around 12:30 a.m., when he lost control of his cycle approximately one mile west of Route 528.

Kerr was pronounced dead at the scene, said Butler County Coroner William Young III. He died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest. He was not wearing a helmet

There was no autopsy, Young said. Results of standard toxicology testing are pending.

According to a police report, Kerr and his son had left the Longhorn Corral saloon on Route 422 in Franklin Township and they were headed west. Kerr was following his son, who was on another motorcycle.

While going around a right curve, police said, Kerr traveled into the median on the left side of the road. His body came to rest in the eastbound passing lane, and his cycle came to rest in the median between the westbound and eastbound lanes.

The son turned around after he saw the headlights from his father's motorcycle “flicking around,” police said, and noticed his father was no longer following him.

The son discovered his father and the wreckage.

A trooper and a Prospect volunteer firefighter, who apparently was in the area, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Kerr, authorities said, until paramedics with Portersville-Muddy Creek EMS and Butler Ambulance Service got there.