A Chinese woman was detained after attacking a bus driver and trying to grab the steering wheel on Wednesday in central China’s Henan province.

The woman, surnamed Chen, had flagged down the bus in Zhoukou when not at a designated bus stop, local police said in a statement on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

The driver stopped to let her board anyway, but advised her to wait at the bus stop next time, the police said. Video footage shows the woman yelling at the driver, throwing a water bottle at him, hitting him and trying to grab the steering wheel, forcing him to slam on the brake.

She then stood on the edge of the driver’s seat to kick and stamp on him.

The bus driver called the police, Chen was detained for endangering public safety and the driver was sent to hospital.

The video footage circulated online, drawing a huge backlash.

“[She should] get strong punishment! It’s irresponsible for other people’s safety as well as hers,” one Weibo user commented. “Should prevent these people from taking the bus forever,” another said.

One suggested offering protective gear for bus drivers. “In my city, there is a small door to the driver’s seat. This can prevent some crazy passengers grabbing the steering wheel,” they posted.

Chinese passengers fighting with bus drivers and grabbing the steering wheel came under the spotlight in October when a bus plunged into the Yangtze River in Chongqing in southwest China, killing 15, after the driver and a passenger got into a row.

The incident shed light on safety problems caused by driver-passenger fights, and people’s behaviour on Chinese public transport has come under intense scrutiny.

In May, a woman in southern China was sentenced to four years in prison for endangering public safety after she slapped a bus driver during an argument about the ticket price.

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