Police say a driver's caution almost certainly saved a four-year-old boy's life after he was struck by a car near a school bus stop in Waihi Beach.

Inspector Freda Grace says emergency services were called to Seaforth Rd at about 3.45pm yesterday.

A four-year-old boy hit by a car is in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital.

'The matter is still under investigation,” she says, 'but initial indications are that a mother and her four-year-old son were waiting for an older brother to get off the school bus and head home.

'Instead of getting off at the normal stop, the older boy stayed on-board the bus so when it looped around and he got off, he was on the opposite side of the road.

'It looks like as the bus has driven off, the younger boy has darted across the road to be with his brother.”

The boy ran in front of an oncoming car, but thankfully the alert driver had already spotted the school bus sign and dropped their speed.

As a result, the youngster did not suffer life threatening injuries but was airlifted to Waikato Hospital as a precaution and is in a stable condition.

As the bus had driven off, the legal speed limit of 20km/h when passing a school bus picking up or dropping off children did not apply, but in situations like this police urge drivers to be aware of the risks posed by children who could easily be distracted.

Freda says: 'Had the driver not taken precautions, we could have been dealing with something far worse and we believe other drivers could learn from this motorist's example.

'Using the road socially is all about thinking about the ‘what ifs'. What if that child runs out on the road? What if that elderly person hasn't seen me coming?

'It's all about sharing road space in a way where it's a community that looks out for one another on the road.”