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NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation after a large group of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

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

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, police announced they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of $562 and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we turn around, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," the minister said. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.