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NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation after a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

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

Law enforcement indicated they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police stated they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, 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. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4m followers on YouTube and more than 1.2m on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. It 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 rules and standards of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We’ve got to ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of the following year, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.