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NSW police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation after a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

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

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities stated they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4 million followers on one platform and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The online figure gave comments to a local publication recently following the event gained traction on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people under 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: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

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

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister said. "We must make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

The state reported over two hundred 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.