🔗 Share this article

New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation after a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 people operating e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

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

Police indicated they did not chase right away the group out of concerns for public safety but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, police announced 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), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: whether 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."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes 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 harm that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.