By SANDY McGEE

BELLINGHAM — A local teenager was hospitalized Tuesday evening after the vehicle he was operating crashed into a tree on Maple Street.

No serious injuries were reported.
Police received a call on Tuesday at approximately 9:52 p.m. reporting a single motor vehicle collision in the vicinity of 260 Maple St.
A Dodge passenger car, operated by a 16-year-old Bellingham resident, was traveling northbound on Maple Street prior to the collision, according to Lt. Kevin W. Ranieri of the Bellingham Police Department. As the vehicle approached a curve in the roadway, the car slid sideways about 50 feet, crossed into the southbound lane and struck a tree, said Ranieri.
Upon arrival to the scene, police and rescue discovered the vehicle’s male operator trapped inside the car.
“He was pinned in the vehicle and had to be removed by the Jaws of Life,” Ranieri said.
Members of the Bellingham Fire Department extracted the victim from the vehicle. The teenager was then transported to UMass-Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
A spokesperson for the hospital said on Thursday that the victim is listed in “fair condition.”
The vehicle’s operator, who was a licensed driver, was cited by police for marked lanes violation.
While the accident remains under investigation, police believe that inexperience may have led to the crash.
“It looks like he was a fairly new driver,” Ranieri said. “It (the crash) could be based on his inexperience as a driver. He might have lost control of the vehicle.”
According to the lieutenant, there is a winding curve in the street where the crash occurred. An eyewitness to the collision said they saw the vehicle slide across the roadway.
Police said that speed was not a factor in the crash. Drugs and alcohol were also not factors in the collision.