This is the moment a hero cop plucks a kindergarten girl from between two school run cars moments before she was about to be crushed.

Parents had been queuing to drop off their children outside the school in Park Ridge, in the US state of New Jersey, under the watchful eye of Officer Mike Stallone.

One girl – just dropped off by her family’s SUV – seems to forget something and dashes back to get it from the car.

As she runs behind the huge large vehicle she had just got out of, it starts to reverse and because the vehicle is so high the driver cannot see her.

But just as she is about to be sandwiched between the SUV and the vehicle behind it, Officer Stallone leaps between the two vehicles and pulls her to safety.

He can then be seen putting the girl – who has not been named – down safely on the pavement before seeming to give her a warning about the danger of roads.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the Park Ridge Police Department on 15th June, saying: “Police and school districts have been working together to assign Class III Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEO IIIs) to keep kids safe at school. Mike Stallone (SLEO III) is newly assigned to West Ridge Elementary School.

“Mike’s quick actions prevented a child from being seriously injured last week.

“Mike quickly recognized that a child could be pinned between two cars during school drop off and jumped in to help. We salute Mike Stallone for his valiant act.”

A number of studies over the years have shown that SUVs represent a much higher risk to children than regular cars.

The vehicles are so high and wide that they cause a number of blind spots.

The University of Illinois found that SUV drivers were involved in just under one in five crashes but caused 40 per cent of pedestrian deaths involving children.

Another study for the Governors Highway Safety Association found that the number of deaths involving SUVs had increased by 76 per cent from 2011 to 2020, compared to just 36 per cent for ordinary cars.