This the terrifying moment a driver was forced to slam on the brakes to avoid running over a little girl who had walked into the middle of a road in the UK.<br /><br />Dash-cam video, captured on Saturday (February 23) in Okehampton in Devon, shows a driver making he way along residential street Northfield Road at a speed of around 13mph. <br /><br />A tradesman crosses the road towards his parked van and starts to close one of the back doors. <br /><br />Then a very young girl - presumed to be a member of his family - appears from behind a parked car and follows him into the middle of the road without looking. <br /><br />The tradesman steps in front of the car and puts his hand up to signal to the car to stop. <br /><br />Fortunately, the quick reactions of the driver allow him to brake in time and avoid a tragedy. <br /><br />The filmer said: "[The] male crosses road first and presumably doesn't expect the child to follow or is unaware of my vehicle. <br /><br />"[I] just stopped in time, [it] was closer than it looked with the wide angle lens on the dash-cam.<br /><br />"I think he could tell from my reaction that it was a very close call, I was shocked and must have looked it. My children of a similar age to the girl were in my car and the drinks bottle my son was holding flew into the front of the car when I braked hard.<br /> <br />"[It] shook me up for a good few minutes afterwards thinking what could have been if I'd been going faster or the girl had not appeared until last second."<br /><br />The driver's reactions earned him praise online.<br /><br />One commenter said: "Brilliant driving. You didn't get sucked into driving down there fast. Your speed was appropriate for the road. Your reactions were great. Well done!"<br /><br />Another wrote: "Seeing this makes me want to go up and give my little girl another cuddle. Well done mate for ... your swift reactions."<br /><br />The driver told Newsflare: "I've been surprised by the amount of response to the Facebook post and hopefully the video will help people to think twice before speeding in built-up areas."
