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NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled 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 potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police stated they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of $562 and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The personality is said to have more than 3.4m followers on one platform and over 1.2m on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he regretted giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of e-bikes 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 "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are granted the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.