🔗 Share this article

New South Wales police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of around 40 individuals riding electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group out of safety concerns but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, police stated they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. That was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. So when I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister said. "We must ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.