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New South Wales authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users gathered 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 proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Police said they did not chase right away the riders due to safety concerns but instead located the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had issued the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The content creator gave comments to a local publication recently after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are given the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that figure surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.