American Social Media Personality Fined After Mass E-Bike Gathering on Iconic Australian Bridge
NSW police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving following a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.
The Event: An Illegal Gathering
A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.
"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.
Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the riders out of concerns for public safety but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.
Penalties Issued for Content Creator
On Saturday, police announced they had served the American online personality known as 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 ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.
The influencer reportedly has more than 3.4 million followers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on the social media app.
Influencer's Comments
The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.
"I accept the blame. It was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to abide by the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi near the bridge."
"I’m unfamiliar with the city, 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 reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."
National Debate on Electric Bike Rules
The spate of e-bikes on streets across the country has sparked increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."
"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," the minister said. "We must make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."
The state recorded over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four deaths.
