A woman in China who leapt out of a moving taxi after the driver rejected her request to lower the fare by half to 10 yuan (US$1.40) has split opinion on mainland social media.

The unidentified woman, from Guizhou province in southwestern China, opened the door of the car immediately after her attempt at bargaining with the driver failed.

Although the driver saw her jumping out of the car, he ignored her and kept driving, Star Video reported.

In a viral video, the woman who is sitting in the front passenger seat is seen arguing with the driver before leaping out.

The incident took place at about 4pm on Nov 3. When the woman got into the car, the driver told her the fare was 20 yuan (US$2.8).

A bitter, back and forth argument then ensued about what the fare should be.

The driver stuck to his original price as the argument continued with the woman saying she was going to make a complaint against him for improper charging.

“You can voice your complaint,” the driver replied, at which point the woman turned to open the door, and told him that she was getting out.

The driver glimpsed at her but did not stop the car. She then fell onto the road with a cry of pain.

He appeared calm, pushed the button to close the door, and kept driving.

At the time of writing, the story had attracted 180,000 views and 3,088 comments online.

Some people said the woman was crazy while others criticised the driver.

One person said: “The woman is a grown-up who knows he is driving, so the driver bears no responsibility for her jump.”

“No matter what the woman says, the driver should stop the car when she jumps,” said another.

Stories involving taxi disputes often go viral in China.

In August last year, a man in central China who was irritated after a family dispute paid a taxi driver 42,000 yuan (US$5,700) to jump red lights.

In November 2019, a taxi driver in southern China was detained on suspicion of stabbing a university student who was left in a coma after a row over a 30-yuan fare.

 - SCMP