Driver 'wished he could die' after ploughing into 9yo boy looking at Christmas lights.

A driver who struck a child looking at Christmas lights told witnesses to the crash that he wanted to die.

Adrian Murray, 24, is yet to be charged over the Christmas Day incident, which has left the 9-year-old Redbank Plains boy in a critical condition in hospital.

The child was walking with his siblings on Rholanda Crescent in Springwood, south of Brisbane, at around 7:20pm when Murray failed to negotiate a turn, causing him to collide with a parked car, plough into the boy and then slam into a nearby house.

A number of bystanders rushed to the scene to help the child, including a registered nurse who reportedly used a belt in an attempt to stem profuse bleeding from his leg.

Another local resident who attended the crash site along with her partner, described the scene as "horrific".

"When I arrived, the driver was walking away from the little boy, screaming," she told The Courier Mail.

“He sat in the front yard and stayed there and we stood by him in case he ran.

“My partner heard the driver saying he wished he could die.”

Police questioned Murray at his Springwood home yesterday, and told The Courier Mail that initial investigations suggested he may have been affected by alcohol at the time of the crash.

It is understood police will be seeking charges including the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.