🔗 Share this article

New South Wales police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation following a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the group due to concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities stated they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The influencer reportedly has over 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event gained traction on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. That was one of the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for regulation. A senior government official, the minister, commented that non-compliant electric bikes 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 presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are given the authority to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that figure surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.