🔗 Share this article

NSW police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation after a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had potential for serious injury or fatalities," stated a senior police official David Driver on the following day.

Police said they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of $562 and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper recently after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to abide by the laws and norms of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose 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. A senior government official, Mark Butler, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We must ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.