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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation following a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

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

Police said they did not immediately pursue the group due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The influencer reportedly has over 3.4 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a local publication this week after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," 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 was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We must make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries related to ebikes in the previous year. But, in the initial half of 2025, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.