WATCH: chilling moment kids escape daycare and run out onto busy road

Terrifying footage has emerged of two young children running out onto a busy main road after escaping from their daycare in Melbourne’s west.

The video, which was captured on a dashboard cam and obtained by The Age, shows the two young children moved from a traffic island on Ballan Road in Werribee and running straight out into oncoming traffic.

Motorists quickly came to a halt, with one driver leaving his vehicle to bring the children back to safety on the other side of the road.

He later described the event on social media, saying: “Jumped out my car approached them slow asking them to give me hi fives and grabbed them my heart was racing.”

The road they were on has a speed limit of 70 km/ph. Luckily both children were unharmed.

Moments later, a woman comes running, followed by another two childcare workers, who picked the children up and brought them back to the centre.

A witness to the incident, Andy, said: “I’m not going to speculate on how they got out as I don’t know [but] either way, it’s quite concerning.

“From what I could tell staff were unaware of what had occurred, another motorist drove to the daycare to alert them – it was only then that staff came over and collected the kids."

The childcare centre has declined to comment on the incident.

Early Childhood Management Services, which oversees running the childcare centre, said an investigation was under way.

“As the regulatory authority, the Department of Education and Training investigates incidents where children are unsupervised while attending early childhood services. As the matter is being investigated, we cannot provide further comments."