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This viral video shows a man in eastern China climbing onto the hood of a car during an argument with his girlfriend, who throws him off the vehicle by suddenly driving away.
The boyfriend, who was identified by the last name Li, was hospitalized, while his girlfriend was fined $31, according to a report by local traffic police.
The quarrel was captured on surveillance cameras at a highway rest stop in Kaihua County, which is in Quzhou in Zhejiang province, on Monday. The video was shared by Quzhou Highway Patrol the following day and began trending on China's Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo shortly after.
Local authorities said Li and his partner, who is surnamed Wang, had stopped at the Kaihua Service Area while taking the Beijing-Taipei Expressway to the neighboring province of Anhui. The couple began arguing "over a trivial matter" at the rest area, the police said, without disclosing details of the disagreement.
According to the police report, Wang decided to drive off by herself. CCTV footage shows her sitting behind the wheel of their white Mercedes-Benz when Li approaches the driver's side door and tries to open it.
When the door fails to open, Li climbs onto the hood of the car and begins using his cellphone, the footage shows. He then appears surprised when his girlfriend starts the car and begins driving away with him still standing on top of it.
Li lies on the vehicle and spreads himself on the windshield, but he is suddenly thrown off when Wang brakes in order to make a turn. The man flies off the front of the car and lands backward.
Quzhou High Patrol said its officers responded to the incident just after 10 a.m. Beijing time on Monday. They found Li unconscious and bleeding from the back of his head.
When Li regained consciousness, he displayed symptoms of a concussion, including vomiting. He was taken to a nearby hospital by an ambulance that arrived 10 minutes later, the authorities added.
The boyfriend suffered minor injuries thanks to the slow speed at which the vehicle was traveling at the time of the incident, the report noted. He is in stable condition.
The police said Wang was detained on suspicion of dangerous driving. Following questioning by investigators as well as a subsequent review of traffic camera footage from the service area, the authorities issued her with a 200 yuan ($31) fine for dangerous driving, according to the press release.
She is not expected to serve jail time.
Weibo users commenting on the report in their thousands have questioned the police's seemingly lenient fine, while others did not understand why Li climbed the car in the first place.
"Only 200 yuan? How is this any different from attempted murder?" One user wrote.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more