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NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the group due to safety concerns but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, police announced they had served the American online personality who goes by the influencer, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty 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 more than 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to abide by the rules and standards 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 near the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault 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, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has sparked increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," he said. "We must ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are granted the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported 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 deaths.