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NSW police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of approximately 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the group due to safety concerns but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities announced they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by Sur Ronster, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of $562 and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has over 3.4 million followers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, stating he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to abide by the rules and standards of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, 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 a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for regulation. 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 harm that are presenting at our ERs are truly severe," the minister said. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.