Woman charged after motorcyclist killed near Moeraki

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal vehicle accident where a motorcyclist was killed at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Hillgrove-Moeraki Rd, south of Oamaru. Photo / Daniel Birchfield

A motorcyclist understood to have been on the way to Invercargill for the Burt Munro Challenge is dead after a crash near the seaside township of Moeraki in North Otago yesterday.

Emergency services were called to the scene at the intersection of State Highway 1 and Hillgrove-Moeraki Rd south of Oamaru about 10.40am.

A Dunedin woman who arrived at the scene a short time after the accident, who did not want to be named, told the Otago Daily Times a man attempted to revive the male motorcyclist before first responders arrived.

She spoke to the man briefly afterwards and said he was distraught.

"Not too much was said. I was comforting him more than anything. He did CPR and said his pulse was really weak."

The man told her he thought the motorcyclist had been travelling to Invercargill for the Burt Munro Challenge.

Burt Munro Challenge committee chairman Craig Hyde said he was aware of the accident, but declined to comment until he had further information.

Earlier, Constable Paul Alden, of Oamaru, said the motorcyclist was heading south at the time of the accident, which also involved a campervan and another vehicle.

Initial reports suggested one person had been seriously injured, before it was confirmed the man had died.

Police would not release any further information until next of kin had been notified, Const Alden said.

The southbound lane of the highway was closed for several hours after the crash, and traffic was backed up for several hundred metres in the hour after the accident happened.

A 28-year-old woman has been charged with careless driving causing death in relation to the crash.

She is to appear in the Dunedin District Court this morning.