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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving following a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 people 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 a nearby district.

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities stated they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a penalty of $562 and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4 million followers on one platform and over 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper recently after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"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 laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he stated. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.