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NSW authorities have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving following a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the group out of safety concerns but rather found the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, police announced they had issued the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality is said to have more than 3.4 million followers on one platform and over 1.2m on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The content creator spoke with a local publication this week after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, 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 a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

The state reported 226 injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the initial half of 2025, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.