American Social Media Influencer Fined After Large-Scale E-Bike Ride on Sydney Harbour Bridge

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 after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: 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 subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The personality is said to have over 3.4m followers on one platform and more than 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event gained traction on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a public meeting 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 ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard 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 absolutely devastating," he stated. "We must ensure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.