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NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation following a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

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

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of $562 and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The personality is said to have over 3.4m followers on one platform and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards of the city. When I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we found ourselves 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, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, 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 coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he said. "We must make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are given the authority to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of the following year, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.