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NSW police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation after a large group of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of around 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, police announced they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer reportedly has over 3.4 million followers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to abide by the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, the minister, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We’ve got to ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of the following year, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.