Boy's miraculous escape after being hit by van captured in dashcam video

Boy left with bruises after collision in Manchester

Extraordinary footage has emerged of a Manchester schoolboy who escaped with only minor injuries after being hit by a van just yards away from a school.

The boy, believed to be eight years old, was hit by the vehicle as it travelled at around 20mph after he ran into the road.

The incident occurred in Hulme, Manchester, near St Wilfrid’s Primary School, in August.

The footage shows him sprinting from between parked cars into the van’s path, leaving the driver no time to avoid him.

The child bounces off the bonnet, while keeping hold of his yo-yo, before he is seen running back towards the pavement.

The footage was released by vehicle CCTV specialists SmartWitness to highlight road safety before children return to school following the summer break.

A SmartWitness spokesman said: “This is particularly dangerous time of the year for our schoolchildren as they all return for the new autumn term.

“We hope by releasing this footage we will encourage drivers to slow down around schools and also remind parents and their children to be extra vigilant when travelling to and from school.

“This little boy had a very lucky escape after running out into the road from behind a parked van. It is vital we keep hammering the road safety message to prevent more avoidable accidents like this.

“The van driver was obviously very badly shaken after the accident but also highly relieved that the boy was unhurt. The footage shows quite clearly that he was completely blameless.”

The van was travelling at 32kpm (20mph) at the time of the collision. If it had been going just 10mph faster the likelihood of death would have been five times higher.

An estimated 69 per cent of child road accidents happen in close proximity to schools – an average of six accidents a year for each school in Britain.

According to the AXA local road safety index, St Wilfrids saw 25 accidents in its locality in 2015.

Department for Transport figures show there were 16,101 accidents involving children on Britain's roads and 54 child fatalities in 2015.

The charity Safe Kids Worldwide has found evidence to suggest that children under the age of 10 lack the ability to judge speed and distance of oncoming traffic.

In addition, research by the AA found boys are 33% more likely to be involved in traffic accidents and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds are involved in a disproportionately large percentage of accidents.