Westchester County

9 Hurt After Unlicensed Teen Driver Plows Head-On Into Westchester County School Bus: Cops

It was not immediately clear what led the 16-year-old driver to lose control of the car ahead of the crash

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An unlicensed teenage driver plowed into a school bus on a suburban Westchester County road, leaving at least nine people injured in the head-on collision, according to police.

The crash occurred just after 2 p.m. Wednesday on Lake Road in the town of New Castle, police said. The driver of a Honda Accord, a 16-year-old from Bedford Hills who did not have his driver's license, was traveling south with three passengers in the car when he lost control of the vehicle as it rounded a curve.

The car drifted into lanes of oncoming traffic and smashed into the school bus head-on, according to police. All four people inside the Accord were taken to Westchester Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, New Castle police said.

The ages of the people on the Yorktown Central School District school bus were not immediately clear. While police did not say how many people were on board, the hospital had said earlier that they received nine patients as a result of the crash, which would mean five of the injured were from the bus. None of those from on board the bus

All of those on board were also taken to the hospital, but all are expected to recover.

It was unclear how and why the driver lost control of the sedan he was driving. Police did not say whether the driver had a learner's permit, which would allow him to be on local roads as long as he has a passenger that is at least 21 years of age. It also wasn't clear how old the passengers in the car were.

The car was later separated from the bus and towed away from the scene. The road where the crash occurred was closed for hours, but was reopened later Wednesday evening.

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