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NSW police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation after a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 individuals riding 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.

"This had potential for serious injury or fatalities," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the group out of concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, police announced they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to abide by the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety 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."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We must make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW reported 226 injuries related to ebikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.