At about 12.30am on Friday, January 6, emergency services were called to Coronation Drive, following reports a Subaru Impreza had crashed into a tree.

A 17-year-old male, who was the front-seat passenger, was airlifted to Westmead Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition. A statement from NSW Police at 10.45am said that a 17-year-old boy had died. At 1pm, NSW Police issued a correction to state that the boy was not dead, but in fact in a critical condition. Police said the error was due to "miscommunication".

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The male driver, also aged 17, and a 14-year-old girl, travelling in the back seat, were not injured.

Officers from Central West Police District established a crime scene, which was later examined by specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit.

The driver underwent a breath test at the scene, which allegedly returned a positive result.

He was arrested and taken to Orange Police Station, where he underwent a breath analysis that allegedly returned a reading of 0.164, more than three times the legal limit for a full licensed driver. The legal limit for a learner driver is zero.

Inquires established that the driver was the holder of a learner licence and no other passengers in the vehicle were full licence holders.

Following the breath analysis, the teenager was taken to Orange Base Hospital for mandatory testing and then brought back to Orange Police Station where he was charged with five offences, including: aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm - PCA, aggravated driving occasioning grievous bodily harm - drive under the influence, drive with high-range PCA, negligent driving (occasioning grievous bodily harm), and learner not accompanied by driver/police officer/ tester.

The boy was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at a children's court on Thursday, February 2.

His licence has also been suspended.

As inquiries are continuing, anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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