A young boy somehow escaped serious injury after he stepped out in front of an oncoming car and was run over by the vehicle as his horrified and helpless mother looked on.

The alarming accident unfolded outside Sri Ruthra Kaliamman Temple in Singapore on Saturday and was filmed by the dashcam of another passing vehicle.

The youngster was one of a group of women and children walking along the pavement when he suddenly ran onto the road, dashing out from behind a parked car, and straight into the path of the oncoming vehicle.

After the car passed over him, the prone child was helped up from the ground by one of the women. He appeared to be upset but unhurt, though she was clearly distraught. The footage, shared online by District Singapore, doesn’t show if the driver stopped their car after realising what happened.

The footage generated fierce debate online over which party was more to blame over the incident, the driver or the child’s guardians, with many saying that an adult should always hold the hand of a young child while out walking as they are “bound to be playful” though others said the driver should have reacted more quickly.

“It cannot be the driver’s fault, from the angle the kids ran out driver really can’t see anything,” one commenter said in defence of the motorist.

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