A 41-year-old Kailua-Kona man was killed tonight in a motorcycle crash on Hawai'i Belt Road, also known as Route 11, in the Ka'u District of the Big Island.

The crash occurred three-tenths of a mile north of the 49-mile marker near Pahala.

Hawai'i County Traffic Enforcement supervisor Sgt. Christopher Gali said the man was operating a 1999 Kawasaki motorcycle south on the highway when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway, crossed the centerline and ran off the left side of the road. The victim was dead at the scene but the official pronouncement was made at Kona Community Hospital at 8:17 p.m., Gali said.

Police did not release the man's name pending notification of next of kin.

The death is the Big Island's 14th traffic fatality of the year as compared to 17 by the same date in 2007.

As of tonight, 11 motorcyclist have been killed this year in Hawai'i: four each on O'ahu and Maui, and three on the Big Island.