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NSW police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The riders then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

Police said they did not chase right away the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, police announced they had issued the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of 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. When I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked increasing demands for regulation. 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 reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "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 crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW reported 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.