🔗 Share this article

New South Wales police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of approximately 40 people operating e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

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

Police said they did not chase right away the group due to 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, authorities announced they had issued the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4m followers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a local publication recently after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to come here respecting the rules and standards of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame 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."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of e-bikes on streets across the country has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he stated. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.