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NSW authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving following a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 individuals operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders then turned around and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official David Driver on the following day.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the group due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls 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 ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," the minister said. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.