🔗 Share this article

New South Wales authorities have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving following a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Police said they did not chase right away the riders due to 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 Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities announced they had issued the American online personality who goes by the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards 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, 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 turns around, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," the minister said. "We must make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are granted the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

The state reported over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of the following year, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.