🔗 Share this article

NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation following a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A group 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 then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement indicated they did not immediately pursue the group 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 Content Creator

Later in the week, police announced they had issued the US social media influencer known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, connected to the bridge incident. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The personality is said to have over 3.4 million followers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The content creator gave comments to a local publication recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, 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 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, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.