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NSW authorities have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 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 Haymarket.

"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the riders due to safety concerns but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer reportedly has over 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and over 1.2m on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a local publication recently after the incident spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.