A man who died in a motorcycle crash in Paraparaumu yesterday was not wearing a helmet.

Former Kapiti firefighter Glenn Wickert dashed to help when he heard the crash just outside his house in Ruapehu St about 11am. A motorcyclist in his late 30s appeared to be lying dead on the road after a collision with an oncoming car.

Mr Wickert said the man had not been wearing a helmet and had a large gash on his head.

Sergeant Mike George, of Wellington regional road policing, confirmed the man had no helmet, but said the injuries he suffered would probably have been unsurvivable anyway.

The man was already turning blue when Mr Wickert arrived, but he and two others tried for about 10 minutes to resuscitate him, following paramedics' instructions over the phone.

"I got out there about 30 seconds after, and did CPR on the guy until the ambulance turned up. We were doing about a minute each and it takes it out of you.

"He was just lying on his back. There were no signs of life, no chest movement or stomach movement.

"It's a common place for these accidents, right outside my house. In the 10 years I've been living here, we have had five to 10 accidents. It's quite a black spot, but not because of the road or the conditions."

Mr Wickert said it was not unusual for motorcyclists to take unregistered trail bikes on the road and not bother to wear a helmet. He believed this was the case with the man who died yesterday.

Mr George said there was no issue with helmets on the Kapiti Coast that he was aware of, and 99 per cent of motorcyclists wore the correct gear.

Senior Sergeant Alasdair Macmillan, of Kapiti, said it appeared the motorcyclist crossed the centre line, but this would be investigated.

Mr Wickert, 42, who works for KiwiRail and is a former volunteer firefighter, took the day off work to come to terms with what happened. "From what I saw, he came off the bike and hit the windscreen and went over the car. I'm a little bit in shock. It still knocks you around a bit, having to deal with a person who was already dead."

The name of the dead man will not be disclosed until he has been formally identified and next of kin advised.

- © Fairfax NZ News