🔗 Share this article

NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities announced they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

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

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We must make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are granted the authority to take strong action, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

The state reported 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.