FUQUAY-VARINA - A 34-year-old man was killed late Tuesday afternoon after he lost control of his motorcycle and slammed into a driveway culvert near Fuquay-Varina, according to the state Highway Patrol.

Robert Lee Cope of 2101 Colorwood Court in Fuquay-Varina was traveling the posted speed limit at the time of the crash, but state troopers had not determined whether alcohol played a role in the crash, a Highway Patrol spokesman said Wednesday.

The single-vehicle wreck occurred just before 5 p.m. about three miles north of Fuquay-Varina, the patrol reported.

Cope's motorcycle was traveling on Bells Lake Road when he apparently lost control of the bike, ran off the road and struck the culvert. The impact of the collision threw Cope from the bike, the patrol reported.

Shortly before the crash, the Highway Patrol received a call about a motorcycle rider doing wheelies in the area, but troopers say they did not know whether that rider was Cope.