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New South Wales police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving following a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute 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 Haymarket.

"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," 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 group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, police announced they had issued the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. They added that inquiries were continuing.

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

Creator's Response

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to abide by the rules and standards 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 did not know the area well, 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. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. 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 presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We must ensure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported 226 injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. However, in the initial half of 2025, that figure surged to 233 injuries plus four deaths.