Australian police cautioned parents to be more careful when backing off or parking their cars as a third driveway accident occurred on Wednesday which caused the death of a three-year-old boy in Sydney.

It is the third freak driveway occurrence that has taken toddler lives within one week.

The driver of the BMW 4-wheel drive was an Australian mum who was backing off the vehicle from the family residence in Rushcutters Bay in Sydney's east. The boy was playing with a ball when the accident happened.

Neighbours helped by administering CPR and first aid to the child and then he was rushed to the Sydney Children's Hospital by ambulance paramedics, but died after a short time.

The distraught mother - who was able to take her other four-year-old son to their father's house after the incident - is still in shock and being given counseling.

On Monday night, a similar incident happened in Sorrento, Melbourne when another mum accidentally stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake when she parked her car on the lawn. She killed her two-year-old son and injured her father, who was pinned between the car and the house wall.

On Thursday, a Sydney father ran over his two-year-old daughter while also backing off his 4-wheel drive from the family garage.

The BMW used by the Sydney mum did not have a reverse camera, but New South Wales Superintendent Sue Waites pointed out that lacking a reverse camera or driving a wide 4WD was not the reason behind the death of the child because kids are hard to see from any type of car.

"Cameras can also give a sense of false security, so you need to know where your children are at all times.... Know where you children are when you're reversing your car. Look around the vehicle, put your children in the vehicle with you or put your children inside the house or in the care of a person," The Australian quoted Ms Waites.

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