GEORGE TOWN: First, the woman clambered on top of Penang Bridge's parapet (concrete barrier) and stood there, and then she leapt to the outer side and stood at the very edge of the ledge outside the parapet.
Passer-by Vivian Chow, 29, immediately thought in horror that the woman was planning to jump off the bridge and quickly took video records of it while she was in the front passenger seat.
Her video is going viral on several social media networks.
"My body went cold. I was stunned because there are frequently news items on people falling off the bridge," Chow recalled.
Only after a helmeted Caucasian man appeared in her phone camera's screen did she realise that they were just tourists on a motorcycle.
"I cross Penang Bridge regularly and the scenery always brings me joy.
"But I think we must tell tourists that stopping on the bridge except in an emergency is a traffic offence.
"And standing at the edge of the bridge is a risk to their lives," she said.
Penang Traffic and Public Order Department chief Supt Zafri Zolkapli said motorists must not stop on the bridge to take pictures as it was not only dangerous to them, but to other motorists as well.
"It is irresponsible. Their act can distract and harm other road users," he said.
He said stopping at the bridge without reasonable cause was punishable by law.
