Bay Area man slams on brakes to avoid hitting toddler wandering in street

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KGO) -- It was a very close call in the North Bay. A man says he slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting a toddler wandering alone in the middle of the street.

"I'm always on top in terms of safety," said Ricky Lynn. And on Sunday, his safe driving saved a life.

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After leaving church, Lynn was driving down Woolner Avenue, a busy street in Fairfield, when he saw something unusual on a curb in the distance. "I saw maybe some pink, something that was about this big over here." Once the light turned green and Ricky started to drive across the intersection, he realized that it was a little girl standing in the street.

"Right about there is where I had to slam on the brakes," said Ricky, while pointing to the middle of street. "I had to hop out of my car, left my door open, made sure the car was in park and I ran over to grab her because I didn't know if she was going to continue across the street."

The 2-year-old girl was scared and crying. Ricky and a friend from church held her and gave her a toy until she calmed down and police arrived. It was 8 a.m.

The girl's mother and her family were asleep in the house, when the toddler wandered outside. Ricky spoke to the girl's mother. "The mom was still really upset, so I went over to the mom and said listen, don't worry about what happened, just use all that extra energy to prevent it from happening again."

That's exactly what Ricky did on Sunday. His 7-year-old niece was hit and killed while crossing a road in Michigan over the summer. She was trying to get help for her dad, who had just crashed their car. Ever since, Ricky has been extra vigilant while driving and always encourages others to do the same.