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New South Wales authorities have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

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

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

Police indicated they did not chase right away the group due to concerns for public safety but rather found the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

Later in the week, police stated they had issued the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of $562 and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has over 3.4m subscribers on one platform 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 news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards 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 did not know the area well, I am to blame we ended up 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, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said 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 presenting at our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four deaths.