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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation following a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering 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 then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, police stated they had served the American online personality who goes by Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of $562 and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a local publication this week after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was among the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include 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 a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he said. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that figure jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.