London, Feb 1: A nine-year-old boy steered his mother's car to safety across three lanes of rush-hour traffic when she blacked out while driving at 70mph.

The brave Jonathan Anderson screamed at his mother to wake up but was forced to take hold the steering wheel as the car veered to the left, then to the right, and hit the central barrier of the A38 dual carriageway in Plympton, Devon, England.

Anderson then pulled up the handbrake to slow the car down, put the hazard lights on, then managed to steer the vehicle back across three lanes before it struck a tree and came to a standstill.

Emergency services have praised the boy for preventing a serious accident and said he would receive a special bravery certificate.

"He is my little superhero. The last thing I remember is driving over the flyover to take Jonathan to school. I must have passed out, because the next thing I saw was a paramedic fitting a brace around my neck,” the Telegraph quoted Marion Anderson, the boy’s mum, as saying.

"When I was lying in A&E the nurses told me what a miracle it was and how clever my son is. I have always been proud of him but even more so now," she added.

The schoolboy suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and his mother said he was fascinated by mechanical objects.

She said: "He is an incredibly bright boy. Part of his autism has seen him develop into a very technically-minded person.

"I am sure he reacted the way he did because he has an understanding of cars and therefore how to stop them. I feel blessed to have him."

Jonathan said: "Mummy passed out so I held the steering wheel, pulled the handbrake and put the hazard lights on. The car stopped and the windscreen smashed. It was scary because I have never driven a car before."

The accident happened on Jan 28 as Marion drove her son from their home in Plymouth to Longcause Special School at nearby Plympton. (ANI)