Driver narrowly avoids crashing into a toddler

This is the terrifying moment a van driver narrowly avoids ploughing into a toddler - after the child steers his tricycle into the middle of a busy road.

Steven Ashby was on his way to work when he was forced to swerve out of the path of the young child, who was then pulled back to safety by an adult who had been walking a little way behind him.

Steven, a carpenter, said: "I saw this coming further back up the road as I have a child about the same age and I know how unpredictable they can be."

"I slowed down as I approached him but it still shocked me as he came out into the road."

"I don't know what was going on in the parent's head, they just didn't realise how dangerous it could be."

"I know someone whose child was killed on a road so I'm a bit more paranoid about it I guess, I've always got hold of my little one."

Steven has shared dashcam footage of the near-miss that happened in Bowthorpe, Norfolk as a warning to other motorists and parents who walk with their children along busy roads.

He said: "It only takes a split second for something like this to happen and if you're not keeping your wits about you, it doesn't bear thinking about the consequences."

See the startling footage in the video above.