A Long Valley, N.J. motorcyclist died today in a crash on Interstate 78, police said.

John Ryan, 53, was driving a motorcycle about 11 a.m. on westbound I-78 when he collided with a sports car near the Phillipsburg/Alpha exit about 3 miles from the Pennsylvania border in Warren County, according to New Jersey State Police Sgt. Brian Polite.

Polite said the crash occurred when Ryan, driving a Yamaha motorcycle in the center lane on the westbound side of the highway, veered for an unknown reason into the left lane and into the path of a Ford Mustang. The driver of the Mustang then hit the motorcycle from behind, Polite said.

Ryan was taken by the Phillipsburg Emergency Squad to St. Luke's Hospital in Phillipsburg, where he was pronounced dead. There were two people in the Mustang with registration from West Virginia who were uninjured, Polite said.

"The incident remains under investigation," he said.

Polite did not have any information on the names or ages of the people in the car, but said the driver was an adult. Police were dispatched to the scene by 11:30 a.m.

The road was closed after the crash and then opened to traffic by 1 p.m.