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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 following a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official David Driver on the following day.

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 city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, police stated they had issued the American online personality who goes by 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 inquiries were continuing.

The personality reportedly has over 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and over 1.2 million on Instagram.

Creator's Response

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

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people under 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: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," he stated. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are granted the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

The state reported 226 injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.