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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation after a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the riders due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, police stated they had issued the American online personality known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of $562 and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister stated. "We must make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are granted the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four deaths.