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NSW police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"This had potential for serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

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

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of $562 and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper recently 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. That was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to greet people near 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: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done 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 stated. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

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