'Romantic moment' costs man 200 yuan and six demerit points

A young man was fined by police after stopping his car on the highway to share a "romantic moment" with his girlfriend.

The driver from Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, illegally stopped in an emergency lane on the Shanghai to Chongqing Highway at 6:49am on October 30 so that he could photograph the sun rise.

Traffic police soon arrived at the scene after noticing the car stopped without its hazard lights on or a triangular warning sign set up, commonly used during breakdowns.

They found the driver filming the sunrise, and he insisted he would continue on his journey just as soon as he had photographed and sent the "romantic moment" to his girlfriend — apparently a late-riser who has never witnessed the sunrise before.

He was warned about the danger of causing a crash and fined 200 yuan (US$30) as well as having six points deducted from his license.