🔗 Share this article American Online Personality Fined After Mass Electric Bike Ride on Iconic Australian Bridge NSW police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and served two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation after a large group of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on Tuesday. The Event: An Illegal Gathering A gathering of approximately 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district. "This had potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday. Police said they did not immediately pursue the group out of safety concerns but instead located the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed. Fines Imposed for Content Creator Later in the week, police announced they had issued the American online personality known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing. The personality is said to have more than 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and more than 1.2m on Instagram. Influencer's Comments The online figure gave comments to a local publication recently after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image. "I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi 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: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around." Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road." "Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We must make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them." NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.