🔗 Share this article

NSW police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was a risk of serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the American online personality who goes by the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality is said to have more than 3.4 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The content creator spoke with a local publication recently after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting 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 greet people under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.