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NSW police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving after a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not immediately pursue the group due to concerns for public safety but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities announced they had served the American online personality 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 penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4m followers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event spread rapidly on digital platforms, stating he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend 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 greet people near 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: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," he said. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are given the authority to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW reported 226 injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.