🔗 Share this article

NSW police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"There was a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the riders out of concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities stated they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, twenty-six, 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 incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have more than 3.4m followers on YouTube and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The content creator spoke with a major newspaper recently after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he regretted giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. It was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. 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 did not know the area well, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," he stated. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to take strong action, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW reported 226 injuries related to ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.