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NSW police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of around 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the riders out of concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, police stated they had served the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of $562 and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality is said to have more than 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to say hi 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 reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has sparked growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister stated. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the authority to take strong action, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

The state reported 226 injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.