Frightening dash-cam footage has emerged of two young children running towards oncoming traffic on a busy road in the city's west after they managed to escape a nearby childcare centre.

The video footage shows two little children running across two lanes of traffic on Ballan Road near the Werribee West Family Centre about 10am on Tuesday.

One child can be seen dashing onto the 70km/h road first with shocked motorists coming to a complete standstill.

The child then pauses briefly and appears to call the other child onto the road while drivers start getting out of their cars in an attempt to rescue the children.