When we're young, we're told that we must look both ways before crossing the street in an effort to mitigate any potential accidents coming our way.

But while this rule applies to people of any age, toddlers and infants shouldn't be crossing the street without a parent by their side.

So, it was a shock to one Lakewood, New Jersey driver when he saw a toddler crawling on a 40-mile per hour street all by herself.

The Incident

On September 22, Cory Cannon, 41, was on Joe Parker Road in Lakewood when he slowed down traffic for the baby, originally believing she was a toy.

"I was riding in my work truck on my way to another job, saw something in the middle of the street, wasn't exactly sure what it was," Cannon said.

"So I started to slow my truck down, so I could slow the traffic behind me, just in case it was something that could have done damage to the car, let alone it being a child."

Once he realized it was a child, he knew he had to do something.

"When I saw the child move, that's when I moved in to block off traffic and get myself out of the middle of the street. And then I snapped the pictures as I was getting out of the truck."

"Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

Once Cannon got the child to safety, he immediately started calling for help in an effort to track down her family.

"I yelled for the neighbors that I saw that were in their yard playing with their children. Someone actually came over, picked the child up, said it wasn't her child," he told CBS New York.

"So we walked her over to the adjacent house, knocked on the door, the door was wide open."

"A toddler came and answered the door initially. Then the adult came. We explained to him what was going on and gave him his daughter back. Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

According to Lakewood Police Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith, it's believed the toddler slipped out of the house through a door left unlocked by an older sibling, which went unnoticed by her family.

He added that the investigation is still ongoing with the help from of the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

"Any time you have a child that's endangered they get involved to make sure the child is safe," Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles told APP.

"You have to be more aware of your surroundings."

Cannon shared that as a father of a four-month-old himself, he was stunned the toddler was in such a vulnerable position.

"It was like a shock to the system. You have to be more aware of your surroundings and be able to pay a little more attention to your children. That's basically what it comes down to."

Cannon said he doesn't consider himself a hero, but rather someone who did the right thing at the right time.

"Something like this, I would never expect it," Cannon's wife Zenobia told ABC 7. "My husband's not the type to seek out attention or anything like that, but he was just doing it because it was a good thing to do."

[H/T: ABC 7, CBS New York, APP]

Would have sprung into action if you were in Cannon's shoes? Let us know in the comments!