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NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation after a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of around 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Police indicated they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had issued the US social media influencer known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of $562 and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi under 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 completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs are truly severe," the minister stated. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are granted the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

The state reported over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the initial half of 2025, that figure jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.