🔗 Share this article

New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded 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 Haymarket.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not immediately pursue the riders due to safety concerns but instead located the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities stated they had issued the American online personality who goes by the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a local publication recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: 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. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of the following year, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.