WHEN a motorist in Shanghai was told by a traffic police officer to move out of the lane he was occupying, he did not want to comply.

Instead, he caused the police officer's death in the middle of a busy road, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

According to closed-circuit television footage from the authorities, the motorist, identified by ShanghaiDaily.com as Sun Haojie, 32, who was driving a BMW four-wheel drive car, drove into the centre lane at a packed junction in Shanghai's Minxing district so he could make a left turn.

However, as this practice was illegal, police officer Mao Shengquan, 32, who spotted this, stopped him and told him to move out of the centre lane, which is only for vehicles going straight.

The driver was indignant. The police officer's radio, as well as an in-car camera in the BMW, recorded Sun as saying: "What do you mean? We are all in a rush, is this necessary?"

The CCTV video then showed Sun stepping hard onto his accelerator when the traffic light turned green, and police officer Mao quickly grabbing hold of the car in response.

The police officer was subsequently thrown into the air, reported SCMP, and landed hard on the road.

Photos showed officer Mao lying on the road, unmoving. He died in hospital later due to injuries sustained in the incident, SCMP said.

Officer Mao was married, and his pregnant wife was due to deliver their first child next month, according to the SCMP.

The BMW driver turned himself in to the police. The Shanghai Morning Post reported that he was arrested for intentional injury.

The SCMP reported investigators as saying that the driver did not know that he had committed a traffic offence by driving into the centre lane to turn left, so he thought the police officer was making things difficult for him.

Photos and videos of the incident were circulated over the Internet, leading to debate by netizens over impudent driving on the nation's roads, with some suggesting that traffic police officers be given firearms for protection.