Shocking CCVT footage showing the moment a woman and a toddler are mown down by a hit-and-run driver has been released by police.
Officers are hunting the driver of a black Audi estate that overtook a turning car and ploughed into the pair, throwing them down the road.
The woman, a 42-year-old driving instructor, and her three-year-old nephew were leaving the Sky Blue Fish Bar in the Hillfields area of Coventry just before 7.30pm on Friday 7 December.
The car momentarily slows down before the driver races off down King William Street towards Berry Street followed by a witness who runs after the car and driver in a bid to stop them.
Miraculously, just seconds after being hit the tot leaps from the ground to be comforted by passersby who rushed to help as his aunt lies dazed on the road. Both escaped with minor injuries.
PC Abbi Jones from West Midlands Police's Traffic Unit, said: “This is a shocking piece of CCTV footage which captures a truly shocking incident.
“We have taken the unusual step of releasing the images - which carries a warning for viewers - in the hope that someone will recognise the car and come forward with information so that we can trace the driver."
Officers who raced to the scene were amazed to find that despite severity of the impact, the pair escaped with only minor injuries - a diagnosis confirmed by doctors at the city’s Coventry and Warwickshire University Hospital.
“This could have been so much worse," added PC Jones. “At the time of the collision, the driver would not have known that the woman and child were uninjured."
Despite national checks of the partial registration plate taken by a witness - EN57 - officers have so far been unable to trace the Audi.
They say the car will be damaged from the collision but may be being hidden
PC Jones added: “With this in mind I would ask that any mechanics who have repaired a black Audi estate with front end damage between the start of December and now get in touch."
Anyone with information should call PC Jones on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.