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NSW police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation after a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not immediately pursue the group out of concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, police stated they had issued the American online personality who goes by the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation 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 1.2m on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a local publication this week after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs 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. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

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

The state reported 226 injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.