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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of around 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the riders due to safety concerns but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities announced they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of $562 and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting 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 ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, basically, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are presenting at our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.