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NSW police have levied a penalty 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 the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had potential for 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 out of concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities stated they had issued the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and over 1.2m on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The content creator spoke with a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. 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 rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, 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 a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We must ensure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

The state reported over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.